Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Omicron Can Sneak Past A Second Booster Shot, Study Finds
CNN: Fourth Vaccine Dose Likely Not Enough To Prevent Omicron Breakthrough Infections
Early data out of Israel suggests that a fourth dose of either the Pfizer/BioNTech or Moderna coronavirus vaccine can bring an increase in antibodies -- more than what's been seen after a third dose -- but it still might not be enough to protect against breakthrough infections caused by the Omicron variant. "These are very preliminary results. This is before any publication, but we're giving it out since we understand the urgency of the public to get any information possible about the fourth dose," Dr. Gili Regev-Yochay, director of the Infection Prevention and Control Unit at Sheba Medical Center, told reporters during a virtual news conference Monday about the data. (Howard, 1/18)
AP: Israel Study: 4th Vaccine Shows Limited Results With Omicron
An Israeli hospital on Monday said preliminary research indicates a fourth dose of the coronavirus vaccine provides only limited defense against the omicron variant that is raging around the world. Sheba Hospital last month began administering a fourth vaccine to more than 270 medical workers — 154 who received a Pfizer-BioNtech vaccine and 120 others who received Moderna’s. All had previously been vaccinated three times with the Pfizer-BioNtech vaccine. (Federman, 1/17)
In news about ivermectin —
CBS News: Arkansas Inmates Who Were Given Ivermectin To Treat COVID In Jail File Federal Lawsuit: "They Used Us As An Experiment"
A group of men detained at Washington County Detention Center in Arkansas say that the jail's medical staff gave them the anti-parasite drug ivermectin last year, without their consent, to treat COVID-19, while telling them the pills were "vitamins." On Wednesday, the American Civil Liberties Union, on behalf of the inmates, filed a federal lawsuit against the jail and its doctor. (Cohen, 1/17)
CIDRAP: Insurers May Be Spending $130 Million On Ivermectin For COVID-19
Needless insurer spending on ivermectin prescriptions for COVID-19, estimated at $2.5 million in the United States for the week of Aug 13, 2021—the most recent week analyzed—would extrapolate to $130 million annually, US researchers reported yesterday in JAMA. (1/14)
In other news about covid treatments —
CIDRAP: Casirivimab-Imdevimab Reduces Symptomatic COVID-19 In Phase 3 Trial
A phase 3 clinical trial today in JAMA finds that only 29.0% of 314 asymptomatic COVID-19–infected people living with an infected household member developed symptomatic illness after receiving the monoclonal antibodies casirivimab and imdevimab, compared with 42.3% given a placebo. Scientists from Regeneron, maker of the casirivimab-imdevimab combination Regen-CoV, led the randomized, double-blind trial at 112 sites in the United States, Romania, and Moldova. The combination is available through an emergency use authorization for high-risk, nonhospitalized COVID-19 patients. (1/14)
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: SSM Health Will Not Use Race And Gender To Determine Who Gets COVID Treatment
SSM Health will no longer use race or ethnicity as a factor in determining if a patient is to receive monoclonal antibodies to treat patients COVID-19. The healthcare agency made the announcement after receiving a letter on Friday from the Wisconsin Institute of Law and Liberty alleging racial discrimination in the company's policies to determine who receives monoclonal antibody treatments for COVID-19 infections. (Torres, 1/14)
CIDRAP: Firm Tackles US Drug Shortages During COVID With Wisconsin Plant
After witnessing generic drug quality issues during visits to Asian manufacturing facilities and wrestling with dwindling domestic production capacity and foreign pricing fluctuations, family-run Nexus Pharmaceuticals found a solution a half hour north of its Lincolnshire, Illinois, headquarters. This summer, the company opened a generic specialty injectables manufacturing plant on 16 acres in Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin, joining the same corporate park as the soon-to-open Haribo gummi bear manufacturing plant, its first in North America. (Van Beusekom, 1/14)
