Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Vaccine Skepticism Grows As More People Question Rabies Shots For Pets
Bloomberg: More US Dog Owners Question Rabies Vaccines Amid Post-Covid Anti-Vaccine Wave
Vaccine skepticism has spread to our pets. More than half of US dog owners expressed concerns about vaccinating their dogs, including against rabies, according to a new study published Saturday in the journal Vaccine. The study comes as anti-vaccine sentiments among humans have exploded in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. (Brown, 8/28)
In other covid news —
CNN: Covid-19 Has Changed, And So Has Our Immunity. Here’s How To Think About Risk From The Virus Now
Covid-19 was never just another cold. We knew it was going to stick around and keep changing to try to get the upper hand on our immune systems. But we’ve changed, too. Our B cells and T cells, keepers of our immune memories, aren’t as blind to this virus as they were when we first encountered the novel coronavirus in 2020. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has screened blood samples and estimates that 97% of people in the US have some immunity to Covid-19 through vaccination, infection or both. (Goodman, 8/28)
CIDRAP: A Few More BA.2.86 COVID-19 Detections Noted In Human Samples, Wastewater
Ohio, which had a preliminary positive from wastewater, now has a BA.2.86-positive human sample, which was collected on July 29. Marc Johnson, PhD, a molecular virologist at the University of Missouri School of Medicine, said the patient sample was collected from the same general area as Ohio's wastewater sample and that the Ohio sample matches a sublineage that includes earlier Danish and UK samples, which differs from an earlier Michigan sample that was related to the lineage that includes Israel's sample. The different lineages hint at three separate introductions into the United States, he said. (Schnirring, 8/28)
CIDRAP: Omicron Variant May Be Less Likely To Lead To Long COVID
Infection with the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant is less likely to lead to long COVID than previous variants, and prior infection—but not monovalent (one-strain) vaccination—helps protect against persistent symptoms, suggests a study published late last week in the International Journal of Infectious Diseases. (Van Beusekom, 8/28)
CIDRAP: COVID-19 Spillover To White-Tailed Deer May Speed Virus Evolution
A group of researchers at the Ohio State University who first reported detection of SARS-CoV-2 in white-tailed deer (WTD) in December 2021 published a study today based on ongoing surveillance that shows more than 30 human-to-animal spillover events and fast virus evolution in a relatively small sample size of deer in northeastern Ohio. The findings, published in Nature Communications, raise questions for scientists who are trying to see how and if SARS-CoV-2 will become established in animal reservoirs. And, when established, how the virus in animals might ricochet back to reinfect humans. (Soucheray, 8/28)
CIDRAP: Heart Attack Patients Had Higher Odds Of Poor Outcomes Amid COVID Surges
Hospitalized US patients who had a type of heart attack called non–ST segment elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI) were at a 51% higher risk of death by 30 days and 32% higher risk of release to non-home settings amid COVID-19 patient surges than before, a University of Rochester–led research team reports. (Van Beusekom, 8/28)
Also —
Bloomberg: Walmart, CVS, Walgreens Want To Disrupt Doctors With New Treatment Options
Walmart Inc., Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. and CVS Health Corp. are rolling out new care options normally only available at doctor’s offices. Testing and treatment services for strep throat, flu and Covid-19 are now available from Walmart pharmacists in 12 states, the company said in a statement Tuesday. Walgreens will soon have a similar offering across 13 states. And CVS pharmacists will evaluate symptoms and prescribe flu antiviral medicine and cough suppressants in 10 states, although they won’t offer tests. (Rutherford and Case, 8/29)
Side Effects Public Media: Fall And Winter Bring More Respiratory Virus Activity. Here’s How To Protect Yourself
Many respiratory viruses circulate year-round in the United States, and more activity is typically seen during fall and winter. The public is likely to be exposed to coronavirus, flu, and RSV in the coming months. Here’s what people should know about these viruses and the available vaccines. (Li, 8/28)
AP: Federal Jury Finds Michigan Man Guilty In $3.5 Million Fraudulent N95 Mask Scheme
A federal jury in San Francisco has found a Michigan man guilty of failing to deliver almost $3.5 million worth of N95 masks to thousands of customers as the COVID-19 pandemic began. Online court records show the jury found Rodney Lewis Stevenson II of Muskegon guilty of wire and mail fraud as well as money laundering Thursday. (8/28)
