Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Moderna Tests Omicron Vaccine, Says Original Booster Fades Over 6 Months
AP: Moderna Begins Testing Omicron-Matched COVID Shots In Adults
Moderna has begun testing an omicron-specific COVID-19 booster in healthy adults. The company announced Wednesday that the first participant had received a dose. Earlier this week, competitor Pfizer began a similar study of its own reformulated shots. (1/26)
The New York Times: Moderna Begins A Study Of A Booster Designed To Counter Omicron
Moderna also announced the results of a small laboratory study suggesting that the protection its authorized booster shot provides against Omicron infections is likely to fade over the course of six months. After a single dose of the current booster, the level of Omicron-fighting antibodies rose 20 times higher than their peak before the shot, the company said. After six months, however, these antibody levels had fallen more than sixfold, though they still remained detectable in all of the booster recipients studied. (Anthes, 1/27)
In other news about vaccines —
KHN: CDC Tells Pharmacies To Give 4th Covid Shots To Immunocompromised Patients
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reached out to pharmacists Wednesday to reinforce the message that people with moderate to severe immune suppression are eligible for fourth covid shots. The conference call came a day after KHN reported that immunocompromised people were being turned away by pharmacy employees unfamiliar with the latest CDC guidelines. (Szabo, 1/26)
The Wall Street Journal: When Should A Vaccinated Person Who Recovered From Covid-19 Get Boosted? It’s Complicated
People who have received Covid-19 vaccinations but not boosters and have become infected are facing a difficult choice: when to get that additional dose. While the Omicron variant spreads across the U.S., more vaccinated people are becoming infected than at any previous point in the pandemic. After recovery, some people are perplexed about what to do next. (Hopkins, 1/26)
CBS News: Government Medical Advisers Urge ICE To Expand COVID-19 Vaccinations For Immigrant Detainees
Two medical advisers for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) implored the U.S. government on Wednesday to expand COVID-19 vaccination access and other mitigation measures at immigration detention centers, where infections have surged by over 800% in 2022, according to a whistleblower disclosure obtained by CBS News. (Montoya-Galvez, 1/26)
In updates on other covid treatments —
Stat: Scarcity Of A Covid Drug Sends Patients On A 'Hunger Games Hunt'
The first thing to know about M. is that for her, there was no pre-Delta surge of optimism. She has multiple sclerosis. Every six months, she gets an infusion to destroy her B-cells-gone-haywire and slow the havoc they’re wreaking on her spinal cord and brain. Those are the same B cells that would normally unleash an army of protective antibodies in response to a vaccine. Without them, her best bet to survive Covid was to avoid it — one long, anxious lockdown, as if nothing had changed since March 2020. Then, right around Christmas, something did change. There was a new glimmer of possibility — a prophylactic treatment called Evusheld, which might give her six months’ worth of the helpful antibodies her own body couldn’t make. The trouble was getting some. (Boodman, 1/27)
CIDRAP: Review: No Role For Convalescent Plasma In Most COVID Hospital Patients
A prospective meta-analysis of international randomized clinical trials (RCTs) of convalescent plasma for the treatment of hospitalized COVID-19 patients finds no clinical benefit in most cases. (Van Beusekom, 1/26)
Kansas City Star: Kansas Lawmakers Considering Bill On Ivermectin, Hydroxycloroquine
Kansas Sen. Richard Hilderbrand weaved through a packed room in the Kansas Statehouse Tuesday morning. The Galena Republican could barely make it 10 steps without someone in the crowd of dozens stopping to express anger or appreciation. They had come to push lawmakers for legislation forcing pharmacists to provide ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine to COVID-19 patients if asked by a doctor. The legislation bars the Kansas Board of Healing Arts from punishing physicians who prescribe ivermectin, a drug commonly used as a livestock dewormer, or hydroxychloroquine, usually prescribed for autoimmune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis. It also requires Kansas pharmacists to fill those prescriptions, regardless of their professional judgment. (Bernard, 1/27)
