
<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-topline">Topline</h2>



<p>Federal investigators are investigating claims suggesting Pfizer delayed announcing test results of its Covid vaccine until after the 2020 presidential election, the Wall Street Journal&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wsj.com/health/pharma/pfizer-covid-vaccine-2020-election-probe-2f3ec247?mod=hp_lead_pos11" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">reported</a>, bolstering a claim by President Donald Trump, who has said for years the company withheld vaccine results to impact his chances at reelection.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-facts">Key Facts</h2>



<p>The U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan is leading an investigation into claims by a scientist who used to work at Pfizer, who allegedly told colleagues and GSK that the company delayed announcing the success of its Covid vaccine until after the 2020 election, people familiar with the matter&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wsj.com/health/pharma/pfizer-covid-vaccine-2020-election-probe-2f3ec247?mod=hp_lead_pos11" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">told</a>&nbsp;the Wall Street Journal.</p>



<p>The scientist, Phil Dormitzer, who no longer works at GSK, reportedly denies making the allegations.</p>



<p>An investigation into the disputed comments follows claims by Trump, who&nbsp;<a href="https://x.com/realdonaldtrump/status/1325961445062938625" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">alleged</a>&nbsp;in a series of social media posts that Pfizer “didn’t have the courage” to announce details about the company’s Covid vaccine until after Election Day in 2020,&nbsp;<a href="https://x.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1325962203346972678" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">suggesting</a>&nbsp;without evidence Pfizer “didn’t want to have me get a Vaccine WIN” before the election.</p>



<p>Investigators have interviewed at least two people in the probe, including a GSK executive who took notes of a conversation with Dormitzer, and prosecutors are expected to soon interview a third person, the Journal reported.</p>



<p>Neither Dormitzer nor Pfizer immediately responded to requests for comment, though Pfizer told&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/us-prosecutors-probe-tip-about-timing-pfizers-covid-vaccine-wsj-reports-2025-03-26/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">Reuters</a>&nbsp;in a statement the company has “consistently and transparently reiterated the facts and the timeline” of its vaccine, arguing, “Theories to the contrary are simply untrue.”</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-did-pfizer-delay-the-release-of-its-covid-vaccine">Did Pfizer Delay The Release Of Its Covid Vaccine?</h2>



<p>Both Pfizer and its biotech partner BioNTech have denied claims the companies delayed the release of their Covid vaccine. Kathrin Jansen, a senior vice president at Pfizer and head of the company’s vaccine research and development,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.science.org/content/article/fact-check-no-evidence-supports-trump-s-claim-covid-19-vaccine-result-was-suppressed" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">told</a>&nbsp;the American Association for the Advancement of Science shortly after the 2020 election that Pfizer’s vaccine development was “never about politics” and the company “had no time and still have no time to deal with politics.” Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pfizer.com/news/announcements/open-letter-pfizer-chairman-and-ceo-albert-bourla?linkId=102134275" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">suggested</a>&nbsp;in October 2020 the company would know whether its vaccine was effective by the end of the month, though he noted federal guidelines would likely delay Pfizer’s request for an expedited public release until at least the third week of November 2020. Bourla previously projected trial results would come by late September 2020, but the timeline was delayed as the company increased the number of participants in its trial. Bourla&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/pfizer-ceo-we-didnt-delay-vaccine-results-until-after-election-idUSKBN27X2N2/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">said</a>&nbsp;in November 2020 the company “didn’t conspire with anyone” to delay its trial result.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-has-trump-said-about-pfizer-s-covid-vaccine">What Has Trump Said About Pfizer’s Covid Vaccine?</h2>



<p>Trump has&nbsp;<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/11/11/trump-angry-about-pfizer-vaccine/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">alleged</a>&nbsp;the Food and Drug Administration and Pfizer conspired with the so-called “medical deep state” to delay the release of Pfizer’s vaccine trial results until six days after Election Day in 2020. After the announcement, Trump requested the Department of Health and Human Services to “get to the bottom” of what happened with Pfizer’s alleged delay, the Washington Post&nbsp;<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/11/11/trump-angry-about-pfizer-vaccine/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">reported</a>. He pushed his claims on Twitter, now known as X,&nbsp;<a href="https://x.com/realdonaldtrump/status/1325961445062938625" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">writing</a>, “As I have long said, Pfizer and the others would only announce a vaccine after the election, because they didn’t have the courage to do it before.” Trump claimed the FDA “should have announced it earlier, not for political purposes, but for saving lives.” He later&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/ap-fact-check-trump-distorts-on-vaccine-state-distribution-76d1580f82b1586b207990396c1e3b5f" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">claimed</a>&nbsp;credit for Pfizer’s announcement and suggested the company denied having received financial support from the Trump administration. Though Pfizer never received direct federal funding to develop its vaccine, it did benefit from a nearly $2 billion advance order from the U.S. for 100 million doses.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-background">Key Background</h2>



<p>Pfizer and BioNTech&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pfizer.com/news/press-release/press-release-detail/pfizer-and-biontech-announce-vaccine-candidate-against" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">announced</a>&nbsp;the results of their Covid vaccine on Nov. 9, 2020, six days after Election Day. Former President Joe Biden was declared the winner of the 2020 presidential election just two days earlier, a result Trump and some of his allies decried amid false claims of widespread voter fraud. The companies said their vaccine was found to be more than 90% effective in preventing the spread of Covid in a late-stage trial, and the announcement did not indicate the vaccine would be immediately available to the public.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-further-reading">Further Reading</h2>



<p><a href="https://www.wsj.com/health/pharma/pfizer-covid-vaccine-2020-election-probe-2f3ec247?mod=hp_lead_pos11" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">U.S. Prosecutors Probe Tip About Timing of Pfizer Vaccine</a>&nbsp;(<em>Wall Street Journal</em>)</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://sync.graph.bluecava.com/ds.png?p=4cb3430d-9dfd-11ef-a5fe-4201ac100015&amp;segment=forbeseval" alt=""/></figure>


Vaccinations at Egoli Township as Omicron Cases Spread

Did Pfizer Delay Covid Vaccine Announcement Until After 2020 Election? Here’s What We Know.


<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-topline">Topline</h2>



<p>The first mRNA mpox vaccine to be pitted against licensed vaccines beat its rivals by easing symptoms and potentially cutting transmission, according to new research published Tuesday, a coup for manufacturer Moderna as it strives to prove itself beyond COVID-19 amid efforts to contain an escalating outbreak of mpox in Africa.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-facts">Key Facts</h2>



<p>The peer reviewed study, published in the journal Cell, marks the first time an mRNA vaccine has been directly compared to the already-licenced shot, Bavarian Nordic’s modified vaccinia Ankara (MVA) vaccine, sold under brand names Jynneos, Imvamune and Imvanex, in nonhuman primates, said Moderna virology researcher and author Alec Freyn.</p>



<p>To test the two shots, researchers from Moderna, the United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID), the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and Boston University gave each vaccine to six macaques, exposing them to a lethal strain of the virus eight weeks later and monitoring their health and blood for signs of an immune response for another month.</p>



<p>All animals vaccinated with Bavarian Nordic’s MVA shot and Moderna’s experimental vaccine, mRNA-1769, survived the trial, while five of the six macaques in an unvaccinated control group died from the disease, researchers said, and the Moderna group had higher numbers of antibodies in blood samples, suggesting a stronger immune response.</p>



<p>As well as preventing lethal infections, the researchers said Moderna’s investigational vaccine reduced disease severity compared to the licensed shot—mRNA-immunized macaques had a maximum of 54 mpox lesions compared to 607 in the Bavarian group and 1,448 in the unvaccinated group—and shortened disease duration by more than 10 days.</p>



<p>Macaques in the mRNA group also had lower amounts of the mpox virus in both their blood and throat swabs, suggesting Moderna’s vaccine could also be effective at reducing virus transmission.</p>



<p>“With the mRNA technology, we&#8217;re able to produce a vaccine that gives quite potent responses with a very tolerable safety profile,” said senior author Jay Hooper, a virologist at USAMRIID, adding that an mRNA shot could help prevent the disease spreading without the safety issues that prevent widespread use of some other vaccines used for mpox, such as Emergent BioSolutions’ smallpox shot ACAM2000.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-background">Key Background</h2>



<p>Mpox, formerly known as monkeypox, is a viral illness caused by infection with the monkeypox virus. In August, the World Health Organization&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/roberthart/2024/08/16/who-declares-mpox-a-public-health-emergency-heres-what-to-know/">declared</a>&nbsp;a growing outbreak in central Africa a public health emergency of international concern. It is the second time the agency has made such a warning, the highest level of alert it can sound under international law, in as many years, following a global outbreak in 2022. That&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/roberthart/2024/08/21/mpox-explained-key-details-on-latest-virus-outbreak/">outbreak</a>, which predominantly affected gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men, was driven by a different and milder variant behind the outbreak we are seeing now, which data suggests could kill as many as 10% of people it infects. Young children, pregnant people and those with compromised immune systems are particularly at risk and symptoms of infection include a fever, swollen lymph nodes and characteristic, pus-filled rash. The virus spreads primarily through close contact with infected people, animals or contaminated materials like towels and while the variant was historically limited to small outbreaks in central Africa, it appears to have mutated into a more transmissible form.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-news-peg">News Peg</h2>



<p>The Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said there have been at least 17,500 cases and 517 deaths from the virus in 2024 alone, though officials acknowledge surveillance is limited and warn the figure is potentially much higher. Amid ongoing outbreaks of the clade IIb virus variant responsible for the 2022 global outbreak, a handful of clade Ib infections have since been&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/roberthart/2024/08/21/mpox-explained-key-details-on-latest-virus-outbreak/">reported</a>&nbsp;outside of Africa, including in Sweden and Thailand, though most are still located within the Democratic Republic of Congo and nearby countries. While there are a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/roberthart/2024/08/22/mpox-vaccine-maker-bavarian-nordic-shares-soar-amid-concern-over-virus-outbreak/">number</a>&nbsp;of authorized vaccines for use against mpox, constraints like cost, availability or suitability have hindered widespread uptake. Supplies of the preferred shot, Bavarian Nordic’s MVA vaccine, are limited, for example, and it is relatively expensive and has&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cdc.gov/poxvirus/mpox/cases-data/JYNNEOS-vaccine-effectiveness.html" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">limited</a>&nbsp;effectiveness at reducing the severity of symptoms and curbing transmissibility. Emergent’s ACAM2000, on the other hand, is in plentiful supply due to stockpiling against a potential smallpox threat and can cut the risk of transmission effectively but the risk of severe side effects may make widespread use inappropriate.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-to-watch-for">What To Watch For</h2>



<p>The tests Moderna are conducting in nonhuman primates are being run&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nihr.ac.uk/news/new-mpox-vaccine-being-tested-in-the-uk/35622" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">alongside tests</a>&nbsp;in humans. The company’s mRNA-1796 shot is being assessed in an early stage clinical trial to determine safety, tolerability and immune response over a range of doses. The outcomes of this will determine the trajectory of future trials for the vaccine.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-how-do-mrna-vaccines-work">How Do Mrna Vaccines Work?</h2>



<p>Vaccines train your body to fight off pathogens in a safer way than if they were encountered naturally. This involves presenting the immune system with something it would later recognize and respond to if encountered at a later date, giving it a head start to help prevent infection entirely or reduce disease transmissibility and the severity of symptoms. Most vaccines make use of a weakened or inactivated (killed) version of the disease-causing germ, or a specific part of the germ like a protein or sugar, to spark an immune response, which impose limits on how fast a new shot can be developed and scaled up. mRNA shots work by providing instructions to the body allowing it to produce part of the germ itself, triggering an immune response without needing any exposure to the germ. By nature, mRNA shots can be more flexible and specific than shots using the entire virus.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-can-mrna-vaccines-help-tackle-emerging-pandemics">Can Mrna Vaccines Help Tackle Emerging Pandemics?</h2>



<p>The swift development, testing and approval of mRNA vaccines during the COVID-19 pandemic was a landmark moment for public health and the first time mRNA shots had been authorized after decades of struggles and setbacks. The scalability of mRNA vaccines outpaced more traditional methods, illustrating why experts now believe the technology platform will be a crucial tool for tackling emerging pandemic <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/roberthart/2024/07/03/gsk-secures-mrna-vaccines-for-bird-flu-covid-and-seasonal-flu-from-struggling-biotech-curevac/">threats</a>. Many experts and health groups like the <a href="https://www.who.int/activities/prioritizing-diseases-for-research-and-development-in-emergency-contexts" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">World Health Organization</a> and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (<a href="https://cepi.net/priority-diseases" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">CEPI</a>) flag diseases like <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/roberthart/2024/07/02/moderna-scores-federal-funding-for-mrna-bird-flu-vaccine-as-pandemic-fears-grow/">bird flu</a>, <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/roberthart/2024/07/22/what-to-know-about-the-deadly-nipah-virus-as-india-races-to-contain-another-outbreak/">Nipah</a>, Lassa Fever, <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/roberthart/2023/03/27/what-is-marburg-what-you-need-to-know-about-the-killer-ebola-like-virus-spreading-in-parts-of-africa/">Ebola and Marburg</a>, <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/roberthart/2023/10/23/us-scientists-deliberately-infected-people-with-zika-heres-why/">Zika</a>, coronaviruses like COVID-19, SARS and MERS and Rift Valley fever as urgent priorities for research given their high potential to seed future pandemics and the absence of countermeasures. Meanwhile, <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/05/22/british-scientists-warned-monkeypox-would-fill-void-left-smallpox/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">some experts</a> have long <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2022/05/27/1101751627/scientists-warned-us-about-monkeypox-in-1988-heres-why-they-were-right" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">warned</a> one of humanity’s greatest public health achievements—the eradication of smallpox through a highly successful vaccination campaign—has potentially left the world vulnerable to outbreaks of related diseases that can exploit our lack of immunity now that we no longer immunize ourselves against it. Mpox, an Orthopoxvirus like smallpox virus variola, is one such threat, and there are many other viruses in the group like camelpox, <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/roberthart/2024/02/12/what-to-know-about-alaskapox-after-officials-confirm-first-death-from-recently-discovered-virus/">Alaskapox</a>, cowpox, rabbitpox, dolphinpox and horsepox, some of which are known to infect humans and for which the risks are Blood serum from vaccinated macaques “neutralized not only mpox but also vaccinia, cowpox, rabbitpox, camelpox, and ectromelia virus,” Freyn said, a sign the vaccine would convey at least some protection against the virus. “We believe that this vaccine may protect from other Orthopoxvirus threats that may emerge in the future,” he said.</p>


A Covid-19 Vaccination Site As Children Under 5-Years Old Become Eligible For Shot

Moderna’s First mRNA Mpox Vaccine Beats Licensed Rival Shots In Early Testing


<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-topline">Topline</h2>



<p>Drug manufacturers have created updated monovalent COVID-19 vaccines to protect against currently circulating variants, and the shots—which have shown to be more effective than the now-available vaccines—are expected to be available as soon as this month.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Key Facts</h2>



<p>New COVID-19 vaccines for the 2024-2025 fall and winter respiratory virus season were&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/ariannajohnson/2024/06/05/fda-panel-recommends-new-covid-vaccines-for-jn1-lineage-by-fall/">recommended</a>&nbsp;by the Food and Drug Administration, and the agency advised Americans to take the vaccines when they become available.</p>



<p>COVID-19 cases&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cdc.gov/ncird/whats-new/covid-19-can-surge-throughout-the-year.html" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">historically spike</a>&nbsp;during the fall and winter months around the same time as flu and respiratory syncytial virus season, so the updated vaccines are expected to be available ahead of this to help curb an uptick in cases.</p>



<p>The FDA originally recommended the vaccines target the coronavirus’ JN.1 variant, but later changed this&nbsp;<a href="https://www.fda.gov/vaccines-blood-biologics/updated-covid-19-vaccines-use-united-states-beginning-fall-2024?utm_medium=email&amp;utm_source=govdelivery" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">recommendation</a>&nbsp;to advise manufacturers to focus on the KP.2 strain of the JN line after reviewing updated case data.</p>



<p>Both <a href="https://www.fda.gov/media/179142/download" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Moderna</a> and <a href="https://www.fda.gov/media/179144/download" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Pfizer</a> said they were prepared to formulate either vaccine—and will make KP.2 vaccines after the FDA’s updated guidance—while <a href="https://www.fda.gov/media/179143/download" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Novavax</a> said its manufacturing for a JN.1 shot is already underway and it won’t have a KP.2-specific shot ready in time for the fall.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">When Will The Vaccines Be Available?</h2>



<p>Each drug manufacturer gave different <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/ariannajohnson/2024/06/05/fda-panel-recommends-new-covid-vaccines-for-jn1-lineage-by-fall/%5C">timelines</a> for when their respective vaccines will be ready during a June meeting with the FDA. Pfizer said its vaccine will be available this fall ahead of flu season. Moderna said its shot will be available as soon as August, while Novavax gave a September 1 deadline.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Who Is Eligible For The Vaccines?</h2>



<p>The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2024/s-t0627-vaccine-recommendations.html" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">recommends</a>&nbsp;everyone six months and older to get an updated vaccine regardless of if they were previously vaccinated. Both&nbsp;<a href="https://investors.modernatx.com/news/news-details/2024/Moderna-Files-FDA-Application-for-the-JN.1-Targeting-COVID-19-Vaccine/default.aspx" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">Moderna</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pfizer.com/news/press-release/press-release-detail/pfizer-and-biontech-receive-positive-chmp-opinion-omicron-3" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">Pfizer’s</a>&nbsp;vaccines will be available for people six months and older, while&nbsp;<a href="https://ir.novavax.com/press-releases/U-S-ACIP-Recommends-Use-of-Authorized-and-Approved-2024-2025-COVID-19-Vaccines#:~:text=Novavax%20intends%20to%20provide%20doses,individuals%20aged%2012%20and%20older." rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">Novavax’s</a>&nbsp;shot will be directed towards those 12 years and older.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Are The Vaccines Free?</h2>



<p>No, the vaccines won’t be free like they were in previous years, though their price isn’t known yet. The shots will be covered for people with Medicare, Medicaid and most private insurance plans like they were in the past,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cdc.gov/covid/vaccines/getting-your-covid-19-vaccine.html#:~:text=Paying%20for%20COVID%2D19%20vaccines,%2C%20Medicare%2C%20and%20Medicaid%20plans." rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">according</a>&nbsp;to the CDC. The CDC’s&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/programs/bridge/index.html" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">Bridge Access Program</a>&nbsp;offered free COVID-19 vaccines to uninsured adults in the past. It was set to end in December, but the agency announced it would shut down in August due to lack of funding. However, Biden administration officials are looking into acquiring permanent funding so a similar vaccine program will be offered to adults who don’t have insurance, the CDC&nbsp;<a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/health/2024/05/22/cdc-covid-bridge-access-program-ending/73733643007/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">told</a>&nbsp;USA Today. The&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines-for-children/about/index.html" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">Vaccines for Children Program</a>&nbsp;will continue providing free vaccines to children of parents who can’t afford coverage.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">How Effective Are The Vaccines?</h2>



<p>Though the now-available vaccines—originally created to combat the XBB.1.5 variant—are effective at protecting against the JN lineage, the updated vaccines from all three manufacturers offered greater protection. Moderna’s KP.2 vaccine was up to <a href="https://www.fda.gov/media/179143/download" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">eight times</a> more effective at protecting mice against JN variants than its XBB.1.5 vaccine. When compared to its now-available XBB vaccine, Pfizer’s KP.2 COVID-19 vaccine offered up to a 7.3-times stronger response to mice infected with KP.2 and several other JN variants, according to <a href="https://www.fda.gov/media/179144/download" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">trial data</a>. Novavax scientists gave mice an XBB.1.5 vaccine and then administered the JN.1 shot 11 months after. The JN.1 vaccine was up to <a href="https://www.fda.gov/media/179143/download" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">48 times</a> more effective at protecting against the JN lineage than the initial XBB.1.5 shot.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Key Background</h2>



<p>Both KP.2 and JN.1 are descendants of the omicron COVID-19 variant. KP.2 was the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/ariannajohnson/2024/05/22/covids-new-flirt-variants-what-to-know-as-experts-fear-summer-surge/?sh=59372a3dd705">most dominant</a>&nbsp;variant circulating in the U.S. in May, June and most of July. However as of August 3 it’s only the fifth most prominent variant, while three of its descendants are the first, second and fourth most dominant strains, according to CDC&nbsp;<a href="https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#variant-proportions" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">data</a>. JN.1 was the leading variant during the spring, but now makes up less than 1% of cases. KP.2 and its offsprings are descendants of JN.1 and only have a few different mutations, so a JN.1-specific vaccine should offer some protection against these variants,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ema.europa.eu/en/documents/other/ema-confirms-its-recommendation-update-antigenic-composition-authorised-covid-19-vaccines-2024-2025_en.pdf" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">according</a>&nbsp;to the European Medicines Agency.</p>


Updated COVID Vaccines Are Coming: Effectiveness, Who’s Eligible And More


<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-topline">TOPLINE</h2>



<p>British Pharma giant GSK&nbsp;<a href="https://www.gsk.com/en-gb/media/press-releases/gsk-and-curevac-to-restructure-collaboration-into-new-licensing-agreement/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">said</a>&nbsp;on Wednesday it will pay as much as $1.5 billion to take control of several mRNA vaccines from vaccine developer CureVac, sending shares of the struggling German biotech soaring during premarket trading and strengthening the British drugmaker’s vaccine portfolio as it tries to compete with the likes of Moderna, Pfizer and BioNTech.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-facts">KEY FACTS</h2>



<p>GSK said it would pay €400 million ($430 million) upfront to CureVac to take full control of developing and manufacturing mRNA vaccines for COVID-19, seasonal flu and avian influenza (bird flu).</p>



<p>The British drugmaker said it would pay an additional €1.05 billion ($1.13 billion) upon reaching various development, regulatory and sales milestones for the shots, as well as royalties from sales.</p>



<p>The shots for COVID and flu are in mid stage clinical trials and the deal could see GSK regularly update vaccines to combat seasonal variants and potentially develop&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/roberthart/2024/06/10/modernas-covid-flu-vaccine-shows-stronger-immune-response-than-individual-shots-late-stage-trial-finds/">joint COVID-flu shots</a>, while GSK said the bird flu vaccine is in the earliest stage of clinical trials.</p>



<p>Available data for all vaccine candidates suggest they could be “best-in-class new vaccines,” GSK said.</p>



<p>GSK’s chief scientific officer Tony Wood said the company is “excited about our flu/COVID-19 programmes and the opportunity to develop best-in-class mRNA vaccines to change the standard of care” and the company told Reuters the deal will&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/gsk-buys-full-rights-make-covid-influenza-vaccines-curevac-2024-07-03/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">not impact</a>&nbsp;the size of GSK’s $140 million stake in CureVac.</p>



<p>Shares for GSK during trading hours in London were flat Wednesday morning but shares for Nasdaq listed CureVac were up around 25% during premarket trading and CEO Alexander Zehnder said the deal strengthens the company’s “financial position and enables us to focus on efforts in building a strong R&amp;D pipeline.”</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-happened-to-curevac-and-what-will-it-do-now">WHAT HAPPENED TO CUREVAC AND WHAT WILL IT DO NOW?</h2>



<p>mRNA specialist CureVac&nbsp;<a href="https://www.gsk.com/en-gb/media/press-releases/gsk-and-curevac-announce-strategic-mrna-technology-collaboration/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">started</a>&nbsp;working with GSK to develop shots using the technology during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. The pair fell behind other companies like Moderna, Pfizer and BioNTech, who rapidly brought shots to market, and the duo has failed to develop shots of comparable efficacy in the time since. While pharma titan GSK, one of the world’s biggest vaccine manufacturers, was able to weather the storm, CureVac has never recovered from the precipitous drop in its share price brought about by its failure to bring an mRNA product to market, plunging from around $115 per share in mid 2021 and to around $4 today, a figure that includes today’s spike. CureVac’s dim outlook was similar in nature to that of the other mRNA specialists that rose to fame in the COVID-19 pandemic, notably Boston-based Moderna and Germany’s BioNTech, and like them CureVac is turning its attention to other medical applications of mRNA platforms. The company&nbsp;<a href="https://www.curevac.com/en/curevac-initiates-strategic-restructuring-to-align-resources-with-focus-on-high-value-mrna-pipeline-opportunities/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">said</a>&nbsp;it will use the cash injection to prioritize “high-value opportunities” such as&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/roberthart/2024/06/04/what-to-know-about-personalized-mrna-cancer-vaccines-after-promising-trials-from-moderna-and-merck/">mRNA cancer vaccines</a>&nbsp;and other areas “of substantial unmet medical need.” CureVac also said it will lay off 30% of staff as part of a wider restructuring effort to “streamline” operations.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-to-watch-for">WHAT TO WATCH FOR</h2>



<p>CureVac said it expects to report data from early stage clinical trials of its mRNA cancer vaccine candidate for glioblastoma in the second half of 2024. By the end of 2025, CureVac said it expects to have two clinical cancer vaccine candidates ready for solid tumors and blood cancers, with clinical trials set to begin by the end of 2026. The cash from the GSK deal, alongside expected savings from restructuring, will “extend CureVac’s cash runway into 2028,” the company said.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-crucial-quote">CRUCIAL QUOTE</h2>



<p>“Now, we can embark on a new chapter for CureVac,” Zehnder said in a statement. While describing the layoffs as unfortunate, Zehnder said he is “convinced that this is a necessary step to ensure the long-term success of CureVac.”</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-tangent">TANGENT</h2>



<p>CureVac’s vaccine&nbsp;<a href="https://www.curevac.com/en/pipeline/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">pipeline</a>&nbsp;includes a candidate shot for H5N1 influenza, a variant of bird flu that is tearing through poultry and cattle farms in the U.S. Given growing concerns of a potential pandemic in humans brewing, it is an area that could garner GSK interest and funding for rapid development in the near future, particularly given the easily modifiable nature of mRNA vaccines that make them ideal for responding to emerging outbreaks. Vaccine rival Moderna&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/roberthart/2024/07/02/moderna-scores-federal-funding-for-mrna-bird-flu-vaccine-as-pandemic-fears-grow/">inked</a>&nbsp;a deal to secure $176 million in U.S. government funding on Tuesday to test avian flu vaccines in humans with a view to bringing a “pre-pandemic” shot to market.</p>



<p>.</p>


Thailand Rolls Out Pfizer Vaccine

GSK Secures mRNA Vaccines For Bird Flu, COVID And Seasonal Flu From Struggling Biotech CureVac


<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-topline">TOPLINE</h2>



<p>An ongoing&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/ariannajohnson/2024/06/12/bird-flu-h5n1-explained-bird-flu-h5n1-explained-toddler-infected-with-another-strain-second-human-case-in-india/">bird flu</a>&nbsp;outbreak among U.S. dairy cows has led to three confirmed human cases in dairy workers, and although there aren’t any confirmed cases of human-to-human transmission, experts warn safety measures like masks, vaccines and safety goggles will be needed if a pandemic is declared due to the virus’s deadly nature.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-facts">KEY FACTS</h2>



<p>The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told Forbes it’s monitoring human and animal exposure to H5N1 bird flu and watching the situation carefully, though “the current public health risk is low.”</p>



<p>Although rare, bird flu typically affects humans who’ve&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cdc.gov/flu/avianflu/h5n1-human-infections.htm" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">come in contact</a>&nbsp;with infected birds, and there aren’t any confirmed cases of human-to-human transmission.</p>



<p>The virus may spread from animals to humans through airborne transmission and through contact with infected surfaces, Dr. Jessica Justman, an infectious disease specialist and epidemiologist at Columbia University, told Forbes, though the exact transmission process isn’t fully understood.</p>



<p>Former CDC director Robert Redfield—who helped oversee the agency during the COVID-19 pandemic—<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGsM9IgVAJo" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">told</a>&nbsp;NewsNation earlier this month a bird flu pandemic is inevitable, so “it’s not a question of if, it’s a question of when.”</p>



<p>Redfield brought up bird flu’s high death rate as a cause for concern if a pandemic were to be declared: Of the 889 confirmed human cases between 2003 and May, 52% resulted in death, according to&nbsp;<a href="https://cdn.who.int/media/docs/default-source/wpro---documents/emergency/surveillance/avian-influenza/ai_20240621.pdf?sfvrsn=78c8c282_5" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">data</a>&nbsp;from the World Health Organization.</p>



<p>WHO defines&nbsp;<a href="https://www.who.int/westernpacific/activities/preparing-for-pandemics" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">pandemics</a>&nbsp;as large-scale outbreaks that can claim millions of lives, disrupt societies and devastate economies; it&nbsp;<a href="https://iris.who.int/bitstream/handle/10665/66155/WHO_CDS_CSR_EDC_99.1.pdf?sequence=1&amp;isAllowed=y#:~:text=The%20Pandemic%20will%20be%20declared,one%20segment%20of%20the%20population." rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">won’t declare</a>&nbsp;a bird flu pandemic until the virus causes several outbreaks in at least one country and spreads to another with high death rates in at least one segment of the population.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-safety-measures-may-be-put-in-place-if-a-bird-flu-pandemic-is-declared">WHAT SAFETY MEASURES MAY BE PUT IN PLACE IF A BIRD FLU PANDEMIC IS DECLARED?</h2>



<p>Experts have cautioned that if a bird flu pandemic is declared, safety measures will need to be put in place to mitigate the spread. Dr. Donal Bisanzio, a senior epidemiologist with the nonprofit research institute RTI International, told Forbes methods like masking and social distancing should be the first implemented. “Those are all the kinds of interventions we need to put in place to buy time for the vaccine,” Bisanzio said. Justman told Forbes new methods like protective eyewear may be effective safety measures, especially among farm workers who have daily contact with potentially infectious animals. This is because all&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2024/p0530-h5-human-case-michigan.html" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">three</a>&nbsp;U.S. dairy farmers infected with bird flu had eye-related symptoms like pink eye and irritation, indicating the virus may spread when humans touch or rub their eyes with infected hands. She also pointed to a recent CDC bird flu&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cdc.gov/bird-flu/spotlights/study-ferrets-eye-exposure.html" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">study</a>&nbsp;that found ferrets—that as mammals have similar respiratory tracts to humans—became infected after eye exposure. Dr. Maciej Boni, an epidemiologist and professor at Temple University, told Forbes he doesn’t think safety measures for a bird flu pandemic will be similar to those put in place during the COVID-19 pandemic because experts don’t know yet how the virus will behave if it mutates and begins transmitting between humans. “H5N1 is not 10 or 20 times more deadly [than COVID-19], it’s 1,000 times more deadly,” Boni said.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-are-there-human-bird-flu-vaccines">ARE THERE HUMAN BIRD FLU VACCINES?</h2>



<p>There are several FDA-approved bird flu vaccines, including ones made by <a href="https://www.fda.gov/vaccines-blood-biologics/audenz" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Sequirs</a> and <a href="https://www.fda.gov/vaccines-blood-biologics/safety-availability-biologics/influenza-h5n1-virus-monovalent-vaccine-adjuvanted-manufactured-id-biomedical-corporation-questions" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Biomedical</a> Corporation of Quebec, a subsidiary of GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals. The U.S. has a <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/do-we-have-enough-bird-flu-vaccines-for-a-potential-pandemic/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">stockpile</a> of FDA-approved bird flu vaccines, but they’re not enough to vaccinate the entire country. Sequirs said it <a href="https://www.precisionvaccinations.com/vaccines/audenz-avian-influenza-vaccine" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">expects</a> to have 150 million vaccines ready within six months of an announcement of a human bird flu pandemic. “I think the right course of action is to simply premanufacture several 100 million doses of vaccines and just have them ready,” Boni said regarding pandemic preparation. Sequirs also <a href="https://www.cslseqirus.us/news/csl-seqirus-announces-us-government-award-in-response-to-avian-influenza" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">announced</a> in May it was selected by a brand of the Department of Health and Human Services to create almost 5 million doses of its bird flu vaccines as a form of pre-pandemic preparedness. Bisanzio pointed out better communication between public health agencies and the public will be needed for a bird flu vaccine rollout because “there was a lot of misinformation [about the COVID-19 pandemic], and that caused issues with the vaccine rollout, and some people didn’t even want to get a vaccine,” he said.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-background">KEY BACKGROUND</h2>



<p>As of May 21, more than 97 million poultry (primarily chickens) in 48 states have been euthanized because of bird flu since 2022, and cases have been confirmed in 118 dairy cow herds across 12 states, according to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cdc.gov/flu/avianflu/avian-flu-summary.htm" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">data</a>&nbsp;from the CDC (unlike chickens, cows&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/milk-bird-flu-cow-testing/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">appear to recover</a>&nbsp;from the virus). The Department of Agriculture believes wild migratory birds are the original source of the cow outbreaks that recently has experts concerned the virus may mutate and spread more easily in humans. Jeremy Farrar, chief scientist for WHO,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/ariannajohnson/2024/04/18/who-warns-threat-of-bird-flu-spreading-to-humans-is-great-concern/?sh=32a2a3cb1176">called</a>&nbsp;the cattle infections in the U.S. a “huge concern,” urging public health officials to continue closely monitoring the situation “because it may evolve into transmitting in different ways.” Though there’s no evidence a human has contracted bird flu from eating infected meat, the USDA&nbsp;<a href="https://www.usda.gov/sites/default/files/documents/avian-influenza-food-safety-qa.pdf" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">urges</a>&nbsp;people to eat meat prepared at safe temperatures. To be properly cooked, whole beef cuts must be cooked to an internal temperature of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cdc.gov/foodsafety/communication/bbq-iq.html" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">145 degrees</a>&nbsp;Fahrenheit, ground meat must be cooked to 160 degrees and poultry must be cooked to 165 degrees. Rare and medium rare steaks&nbsp;<a href="https://www.certifiedangusbeef.com/kitchen/doneness.php" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">fall below</a>&nbsp;this temperature. Properly cooked eggs with an internal temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit kill bacteria and viruses including bird flu,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cdc.gov/flu/avianflu/spotlights/2021-2022/bird-flu-poses-low-risk-public.htm" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">according</a>&nbsp;to the CDC. Consuming unpasteurized dairy products is also&nbsp;<a href="https://www.fda.gov/food/alerts-advisories-safety-information/updates-highly-pathogenic-avian-influenza-hpai" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">advised against</a>.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-further-reading">FURTHER READING</h2>



<p><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/ariannajohnson/2024/06/12/bird-flu-h5n1-explained-bird-flu-h5n1-explained-toddler-infected-with-another-strain-second-human-case-in-india/">Bird Flu (H5N1) Explained: Toddler Infected With Another Strain—Second Human Case In India</a>&nbsp;(Forbes)</p>


Monkeypox and Covid Tests Processing at AEGIS Labs

Here’s Why COVID Measures Like Masking And New Ones Like Safety Goggles Could Return If A Bird Flu Pandemic Is Declared


<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-topline">TOPLINE</h2>



<p>Food recalls in 2023 reached the highest levels the U.S. has recorded since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, mainly driven by undisclosed allergens and listeria contamination, according to a new report released Thursday.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-facts">KEY FACTS</h2>



<p>Some 313 food recalls (impacting products that were still on sale) and alerts (involving products no longer on sale, but may be in consumers’ homes) were announced last year by the Food and Drug Administration and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, an 8% increase from 2022 and the highest number since the COVID pandemic began in 2020, according to a report released Thursday by the nonprofit U.S. Public Research Interest Group Education Fund.</p>



<p>Contaminated food resulted in six deaths and over 1,100 illnesses last year, though the researchers suspect there were more illnesses since most people recover from food poisoning without medical attention.</p>



<p>The most commonly recalled food items in 2023 were snacks like cookies and granola bars, which accounted for one in five recalls, though other commonly recalled foods included fruit—mainly cantaloupes—beef, soup, salads and greens, poultry, cheese, vegetables, supplements and pet food, according to the report.</p>



<p>Almost half of all recalls (49.3%) in 2023 were related to allergens undeclared on packaging, while other major reasons for recalls were listeria contamination (15%), salmonella contamination (8.6%) and uninspected products (6.1%).</p>



<p>This uptick in undisclosed allergen cases was partially driven by the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.fda.gov/consumers/consumer-updates/allergic-sesame-food-labels-now-must-list-sesame-allergen#:~:text=As%20of%20January%201%2C%202023%2C%20sesame%20is%20required%20to%20be,milk" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">inclusion</a>&nbsp;of sesame—which accounted for 39% of the increase—as a required disclosed allergen, a rule that began in January 2023.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-are-the-5-biggest-food-recalls-of-2024-so-far">WHAT ARE THE 5 BIGGEST FOOD RECALLS OF 2024 SO FAR?</h2>



<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li><strong>Dairy products: </strong>An investigation into a “multi-year, multistate” <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/ariannajohnson/2024/02/08/costco-trader-joes-walmart-recall-dairy-products-over-listeria-outbreak-what-to-know/?sh=7902e28a47f5">listeria outbreak</a> was reopened after listeria was found in several food products containing dairy like queso fresco and cotija cheese. This outbreak includes cases dating back to 2014, and the FDA investigated it in 2017 and 2021, though it couldn’t link a specific brand to the outbreak. The most recent investigation was reopened in January, and manufacturer Rizo-Lopez Foods voluntarily recalled around <a href="https://www.fda.gov/media/176015/download?attachment" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">60</a> dairy products. Major retailers like Walmart, Costco and Trader Joe’s recalled products including salad and taco kits due to potential contamination. As of April 9, the FDA and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention <a href="https://www.fda.gov/food/outbreaks-foodborne-illness/outbreak-investigation-listeria-monocytogenes-queso-fresco-and-cotija-cheese-february-2024" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">report</a> the outbreak is over. The agencies said there were 26 cases, 23 hospitalizations and two deaths across 11 states.</li>



<li><strong>Trader Joe’s Dumplings: </strong>Over 61,000 pounds of Trader Joe’s steamed chicken soup dumplings were recalled in March due to potential hard plastic contamination from a permanent marker. The products were voluntarily recalled by manufacturer CJ Foods Manufacturing Beaumont Corporation, <a href="https://www.fsis.usda.gov/recalls-alerts/cj-foods-manufacturing-beaumont-corporation-recalls-trader-joes-chicken-soup" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">according</a> to the USDA. The problem was discovered after customers submitted complaints of hard plastics in their dumplings, though no adverse reactions were reported.</li>



<li><strong>Ground cinnamon: </strong>The FDA issued an <a href="https://www.fda.gov/food/alerts-advisories-safety-information/fda-alert-concerning-certain-cinnamon-products-due-presence-elevated-levels-lead" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">alert</a> in March warning it found unsafe levels of lead in six ground cinnamon products. These products were sold in discount stores like Dollar Tree and Family Dollar across several states. This recall came after the FDA investigated the recall of lead-tainted <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/ariannajohnson/2024/02/07/lead-poisoned-applesauce-ecuadorian-cinnamon-processor-likely-source-behind-recalled-pouches-fda-says/?sh=27a6e3082618">cinnamon applesauces</a> in 2023 that led to over 500 reports of adverse events in children.</li>



<li><strong>Trader Joe’s cashews: </strong>Wenders LLC, the manufacturer of the nuts, <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/caileygleeson/2024/03/18/trader-joes-cashews-recall-product-pulled-in-16-states-over-salmonella-concerns/?sh=3ac5e89e58d4">recalled</a> four lots of Trader Joe’s 50% Less Sodium Roasted &amp; Salted Whole Cashews in March due to potential salmonella contamination. Though no illnesses have been reported, the potentially contaminated nuts were sold in 16 states.</li>



<li><strong>Quaker Oats products: </strong>Quaker Oats <a href="https://www.fda.gov/safety/recalls-market-withdrawals-safety-alerts/update-quaker-issues-revised-recall-notice-additional-products-due-possible-health-risk" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">expanded</a> its list of recalled products in January after it recalled several in December due to possible salmonella contamination. This expanded list included over 20 granola, protein and cereal bars, cereals, instant oatmeals and snack mixes sold in all 50 states. However, no adverse events have been reported.</li>
</ul>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-big-number">BIG NUMBER</h2>



<p>48 million. That’s how many Americans the CDC&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cdc.gov/foodborneburden/2011-foodborne-estimates.html" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">estimates</a>&nbsp;get sick annually due to foodborne disease, totaling one out of six Americans. Out of that number, 128,000 are hospitalized and 3,000 die.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-background">KEY BACKGROUND</h2>



<p>Food gets recalled in one of four ways, according to the report. One way is consumers get sick, seek medical attention and then local officials or the CDC test fluids and trace an outbreak to a specific food item; another is consumers file a complaint with companies or regulators; a third is local, state or federal officials discover an issue through investigations or routine surveillance; and the other method is by companies self-reporting a problem after testing. The FDA regulates around&nbsp;<a href="https://www.fda.gov/media/143704/download" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">78%</a>&nbsp;of the country’s food supply, and its oversight includes everything except meat, poultry and some fish and eggs products, which are regulated by the USDA. The FDA was behind 224 recalls in 2023, while the USDA accounted for 89, according to the report. Although the number of recalls via the FDA were virtually unchanged, the number of USDA recalls increased by 31% in 2023 compared with 2022—the highest levels since 2019.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-further-reading">FURTHER READING</h2>



<p><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/ariannajohnson/2024/02/08/costco-trader-joes-walmart-recall-dairy-products-over-listeria-outbreak-what-to-know/?sh=7902e28a47f5">Costco, Trader Joe’s, Walmart Recall Dairy Products Over Listeria Outbreak—What To Know</a>&nbsp;(Forbes)</p>



<p><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/ariannajohnson/2024/02/07/lead-poisoned-applesauce-ecuadorian-cinnamon-processor-likely-source-behind-recalled-pouches-fda-says/?sh=27a6e3082618">Lead-Poisoned Applesauce: Ecuadorian Cinnamon Processor ‘Likely Source’ Behind Recalled Pouches, FDA Says</a>&nbsp;(Forbes)</p>



<p><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/caileygleeson/2024/03/18/trader-joes-cashews-recall-product-pulled-in-16-states-over-salmonella-concerns/?sh=3ac5e89e58d4">Trader Joe’s Cashews Recall: Product Pulled In 16 States Over Salmonella Concerns</a>&nbsp;(Forbes)</p>


A Safeway Grocery Store Ahead Of Alberston’s Earnings Figures

2023 Had Most Food Recalls Since Start Of COVID-19 Pandemic, Report Finds


<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-topline">TOPLINE</h2>



<p>Researchers have potentially linked an antiviral protein produced by the body during infection as the cause of long Covid, according to a new study, and they’re optimistic the next step is making medications to treat the disease.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-facts">KEY FACTS</h2>



<p>Researchers followed patients with long Covid for 2.5 years to determine why some recovered from their symptoms and others didn’t, according to the study published Wednesday in Science Advances.</p>



<p>Long Covid (or post-Covid) symptoms include shortness of breath, loss of smell or taste, brain fog or chest pain following recovery from a Covid infection that can last for weeks—or in some cases, for years—<a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/long-term-effects/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">according</a>&nbsp;to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.</p>



<p>When infected with the coronavirus, people produce an inflammatory protein called&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4154595/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">interferon gamma</a>&nbsp;(or IFN-y), which is part of the body’s natural response to fight off infection.</p>



<p>The production of the protein typically stops once infection goes away, but researchers discovered participants with ongoing Covid symptoms had high levels of IFN-y for up to 31 months after initial infection, which the researchers believe may be the cause of long Covid.</p>



<p>Over 60% of patients experienced relief from at least some of their symptoms during the study period, and participants who were vaccinated after infection saw significant decreases in their long Covid symptoms and IFN-y production, suggesting vaccination “improved” long Covid symptoms, according to the study.</p>



<p>Current long Covid treatment only targets symptom alleviation and not the underlying disease, but now that a potential cause has been identified, there’s “hope that this could help to pave the way” for creating medication to specifically target long Covid, and “give some patients a firm diagnosis,” Benjamin Krishna, the study’s co-author and an investigator at Cambridge University, said in a statement.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-crucial-quote">CRUCIAL QUOTE</h2>



<p>“The number of people with long Covid is gradually falling, and vaccination seems to be playing a significant role in that,” Krishna said. “But new cases are still cropping up, and then there is the big question of what happens when the next coronavirus pandemic comes along. Understanding what causes long Covid now could give us a crucial head start.”</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-big-number">BIG NUMBER</h2>



<p>65 million. That’s how many people worldwide suffer from long Covid, according to a 2023&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41579-022-00846-2" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">study</a>. The CDC&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/72/wr/mm7232a3.htm?s_cid=mm7232a3_w" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">estimated</a>&nbsp;around 6% of American adults in June 2023 experienced long Covid at some point in their lives.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-to-watch-for">WHAT TO WATCH FOR</h2>



<p>The study researchers believe because there are several symptoms of long Covid that can look very different from each other, more research is needed in order to create subgroups of the disease. It’s “unlikely” all symptoms are caused by the same thing since some patients are able to recover while others aren’t, so future studies into why should be conducted, according to the researchers.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-background">KEY BACKGROUND</h2>



<p>Several risk factors play into who’s more susceptible to long Covid, <a href="https://covid19.nih.gov/covid-19-topics/long-covid" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">according</a> to the National Institutes of Health: underlying health conditions like obesity and diabetes, going unvaccinated, experiencing severe Covid infection or hospitalization, older age and being a woman are all risk factors. Long Covid can affect several organs and body systems like the heart, lungs, kidney, reproductive system and brain and also trigger other health conditions like kidney disease, autoimmune disorders or diabetes. Other experts have attempted to identify the cause of long Covid. Some <a href="https://cardiab.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12933-021-01359-7" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">studies</a> have hypothesized tiny clots in the cells that persist for a long time may be the cause of some symptoms. The microclots may cause an inflammatory response, which causes exhaustion and fatigue, two of the most common long Covid symptoms. The Science Advances researchers believe their new findings suggest microclotting can’t be the only or most significant cause, though they don’t rule it out. The lowering of certain anti-inflammatory gut microbiomes during and after Covid—which causes an inflammatory response—may also trigger long Covid, according to a 2022 <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9088471/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">study</a>. Another theory is that the coronavirus itself—not the body’s response to it—causes long Covid by damaging or altering cells, leading to lasting symptoms, according to a separate Science Advances <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.abc5801" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">paper</a>.</p>


Possible Long Covid Cause Identified: Suggests Protein Might Be Culprit—And Medication Might Cure It


<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-topline">TOPLINE</h2>



<p>Covid vaccines from companies like Pfizer, Moderna and AstraZeneca were linked to rare occurrences of heart, brain and blood disorders, a recent peer-reviewed study found, though experts say the risks of developing Covid-19 greatly outweigh the risks of getting vaccinated.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">KEY FACTS</h2>



<p>Researchers from the Global Vaccine Data Network—a research arm of the World Health Organization—looked at expected versus observed rates of 13 medical conditions that were considered “adverse events of special interest” in a study population of 99 million vaccinated people eight countries, making it the largest Covid vaccine study to date.</p>



<p>Rare cases of <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/safety/myocarditis.html#:~:text=Myocarditis%20is%20inflammation%20of%20the,Shortness%20of%20breath" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">myocarditis</a>—inflammation of the heart—were identified in the first, second and third doses of Pfizer-BioNTech’s and Moderna’s mRNA vaccines: The highest rate was seen after the second Moderna dose (6.1 times the expected rate of cases), according to the study published in the journal Vaccine.</p>



<p>Another heart condition called&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/pericarditis/symptoms-causes/syc-20352510#:~:text=Pericarditis%20is%20swelling%20and%20irritation,and%20goes%20away%20without%20treatment." target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">pericarditis</a>&nbsp;had a 6.9-fold increased risk in those who took a third dose of AstraZeneca’s viral-vector vaccine, while a first and fourth dose of Moderna’s vaccine had a 1.7-fold and 2.6-fold increased risk, respectively.</p>



<p>There was a 2.5-times greater risk of developing the rare autoimmune disorder&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/guillain-barre-syndrome/symptoms-causes/syc-20362793" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Guillain-Barre syndrome</a>&nbsp;among those who took AstraZeneca’s vaccine compared to the rate researchers expected, and a 3.2-times greater risk of getting blood clots among the same population.</p>



<p>There was a 3.8-times greater risk of developing the neurological disorder acute disseminated encephalomyelitis after the Moderna vaccine was administered, and a 2.2-fold increased risk after AstraZeneca’s vaccine, according to the study.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">BIG NUMBER</h2>



<p>13.5 billion. That’s how many Covid vaccines have been administered worldwide since the start of the Covid pandemic,&nbsp;<a href="https://ourworldindata.org/covid-vaccinations" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">according</a>&nbsp;to science research organization Our World in Data. Around 71% of the world’s population has received at least one dose of a Covid vaccine.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">CRUCIAL QUOTE</h2>



<p>“The odds of all of these adverse events is still much, much higher when infected with SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19), so getting vaccinated is still by far the safer choice,” CEO of biotechnology company Centivax Jacob Glanville, who is not involved in the study, told Forbes.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">KEY BACKGROUND</h2>



<p>Covid vaccines are meant to prevent severe infection, and studies have indicated&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/acip/recs/grade/covid-19-moderna-vaccine.html%5C" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Moderna</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/acip/recs/grade/covid-19-pfizer-biontech-vaccine.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Pfizer-BioNTech</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.who.int/news-room/feature-stories/detail/the-oxford-astrazeneca-covid-19-vaccine-what-you-need-to-know#:~:text=The%20AstraZeneca%20vaccine%20has%20an,about%204%20to%2012%20weeks." target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">AstraZeneca’s</a>&nbsp;vaccines are effective at preventing severe illnesses, hospitalizations and death. Meanwhile, the chances of having a neurological event after a Covid infection were up to 617-fold higher than following COVID vaccination, which suggests “the benefits of vaccination substantially outweigh the risks,” according to the Vaccine study researchers. The risk of developing myocarditis is higher post-Covid infection than after getting a Covid vaccine,&nbsp;<a href="https://medicine.yale.edu/profile/akiko-iwasaki/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">according</a>&nbsp;to Akiko Iwasaki, PhD, professor of Immunobiology at Yale University. Myocarditis risk after the second dose of a Covid vaccine is 35.9 per 100,000 people, compared to a 64.9 per 100,000 risk after Covid infection. The risk of developing Guillain-Barre syndrome after Covid infection was six times greater, and the risk of developing it after vaccination was 0.41 times greater than the control group, according to a 2023&nbsp;<a href="https://www.neurology.org/doi/10.1212/WNL.0000000000207900" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">study</a>&nbsp;published in Neurology. While most Americans have received at least one Covid-19 vaccine shot, uptake for booster shots that are updated to combat new coronavirus strains has remained slow.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">TANGENT</h2>



<p>The rapidly spreading Covid variant JN.1 caused an&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/roberthart/2023/12/20/jn1-covid-variant-of-interest-spreading-fast-in-us---heres-what-to-know/?sh=2fe82e10ccce">uptick in cases</a>&nbsp;during the fall and winter months, causing a resurgence of the tripledemic—when cases of Covid, flu and respiratory syncytial virus simultaneously increase. JN.1 made up&nbsp;<a href="https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#variant-proportions%5C" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">96.4</a><a href="https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#variant-proportions" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">%</a>&nbsp;of all cases in the two week period ending in Feb. 17. However, Covid cases (down 0.6%) and deaths (down 6.9%) are&nbsp;<a href="https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#variants-genomic-surveillance" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">declining</a>—though hospitalizations are up 0.8%—signaling an&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/caileygleeson/2024/01/19/tripledemic-surge-eases-as-covid-rsv-flu-figures-drop-for-second-week/?sh=5b629a4c64ac">end</a>&nbsp;to the tripledemic. The variant was&nbsp;<a href="https://www.who.int/docs/default-source/coronaviruse/18122023_jn.1_ire_clean.pdf?sfvrsn=6103754a_3" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">classified</a>&nbsp;as a “variant of interest”—meaning it’s spreading in a way that may pose “an emerging risk to global public health”—by the World Health Organization in December. JN.1 is an offshoot of the highly mutated&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/ariannajohnson/2023/11/28/what-to-know-about-rapidly-spreading-pirola-covid-variant-ba286-and-if-vaccines-offer-protection/?sh=27f10c0e1978">Pirola</a>&nbsp;(BA.2.86) virus that some experts worried wouldn’t be protected against the updated monovalent Covid boosters, which specifically target XBB variants. However, vaccine makers ensured their shots provided some protection.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">FURTHER READING</h2>



<p><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/roberthart/2023/12/20/jn1-covid-variant-of-interest-spreading-fast-in-us---heres-what-to-know/?sh=2fe82e10ccce">JN.1 Covid ‘Variant Of Interest’ Spreading Fast In U.S. — Here’s What To Know</a>&nbsp;(Forbes)</p>



<p><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/caileygleeson/2024/01/19/tripledemic-surge-eases-as-covid-rsv-flu-figures-drop-for-second-week/?sh=5b629a4c64ac">‘Tripledemic’ Surge Eases As Covid, RSV, Flu Figures Drop For Second Week</a>&nbsp;(Forbes)</p>



<p><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/ariannajohnson/2023/11/28/what-to-know-about-rapidly-spreading-pirola-covid-variant-ba286-and-if-vaccines-offer-protection/?sh=717483311978">What To Know About Rapidly Spreading ‘Pirola’ Covid Variant BA.2.86—And If Vaccines Offer Protection</a>&nbsp;(Forbes)</p>


Japan begins the third inoculation of COVID-19 vaccine

Covid Vaccines Linked To Small Increase In Heart And Brain Disorders, Study Finds—But Risk From Infection Is Far Higher


<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-topline">TOPLINE</h2>



<p>Hospitalizations for Covid spiked 20% in the week after Christmas, according to new <a href="https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#datatracker-home" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">data</a> from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, along with an increase in Covid deaths, and flu hospitalizations and deaths, solidifying what experts predicted to be a “severe” season for respiratory illnesses as Americans traveled and gathered for holiday celebrations.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">KEY FACTS</h2>



<p>There were 34,798 Covid-related hospitalizations during the holiday week ending in Dec. 30, 2023, a 20.4% increase from the week prior, according to&nbsp;<a href="https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#datatracker-home" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">data</a>&nbsp;from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.</p>



<p>Covid-related deaths were up <a href="https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#maps_percent-covid-deaths" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">12.5%</a> during this period, with the highest concentrations in New Jersey, Massachusetts, Missouri and Oklahoma.</p>



<p>New Omicron Covid variant JN.1 made up&nbsp;<a href="https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#variant-proportions" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">61.6%</a>&nbsp;of all Covid cases in the two-week period between Dec. 24, 2023 and January 6, up 22.8% from the previous two-week period.</p>



<p>There were&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cdc.gov/flu/weekly/index.htm#ORIAM" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">39 states</a>&nbsp;with high or very high levels for respiratory illness, including Covid, the flu and respiratory syncytial virus—this is up from 34 states the previous week.</p>



<p>Flu cases increased by <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/flu/weekly/index.htm" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">17.5%</a>, and there were <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/flu/weekly/index.htm#NHSN" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">20,066</a> flu-related hospitalizations, up over 5% from the previous week, according to the CDC.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">KEY BACKGROUND</h2>



<p>Doctors at Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cedars-sinai.org/newsroom/preparing-for-a-tripledemic-holiday-season/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">warned</a>&nbsp;in November 2023 that experts were preparing for an intense tripledemic holiday season. “It’s going to be a severe respiratory virus season,” associate director of Hospital Epidemiology at Cedars-Sinai, said in a statement. The tripledemic is a simultaneous rise in Covid, flu and RSV cases, which typically peaks during the winter season each year. Because of an uptick in respiratory illness-related hospitalizations, several healthcare systems across the country have reinstated&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/ariannajohnson/2024/01/04/heres-where-mask-mandates-are-coming-back-as-covid-cases-and-hospitalizations-rise/?sh=6e54ea132542">mask mandates</a>. Healthcare facilities in New York City began requiring masks for all patients, visitors and staff earlier this week. After the Illinois Department of Public advised hospitals to increase their mitigation efforts in December, several hospitals reinstated mask mandates, including Chicago-based Rush University Medical Center, Cook County Health and Endeavor Health. Berkshire Health System in Massachusetts began requiring masks on Wednesday, citing a “<a href="https://www.berkshirehealthsystems.org/news/winter-respiratory-viruses-on-the-rise-bhs-reinstitutes-masking-and-updates-visitor-guidelines" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">significant increase</a>” in local respiratory cases. After Los Angeles County entered the&nbsp;<a href="http://publichealth.lacounty.gov/acd/ncorona2019/masks/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">medium level</a>&nbsp;for Covid hospitalizations last month, the county required masks in all its hospitals.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">TANGENT</h2>



<p>New Covid variant JN.1 has been driving an increase in Covid cases across the country as it’s been rapidly spreading. JN.1 only made up&nbsp;<a href="https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#variant-proportions" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">3.3%</a>&nbsp;of all Covid cases during the two-week period ending in Nov. 11, 2023, so it’s grown by almost 60% in a little over two months. The World Health Organization&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/roberthart/2023/12/20/jn1-covid-variant-of-interest-spreading-fast-in-us---heres-what-to-know/?sh=4fafa4dc10cc">classified</a>&nbsp;it as a “variant of interest” in December 2023, meaning it’s spreading in a way that may pose “an emerging risk to global public health.” JN.1 is an offshoot of the highly mutated&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/ariannajohnson/2023/11/28/what-to-know-about-rapidly-spreading-pirola-covid-variant-ba286-and-if-vaccines-offer-protection/?sh=27f10c0e1978">Pirola</a>&nbsp;(BA.2.86) strain that was spreading rapidly last fall. Some healthcare experts worried Pirola wouldn’t be protected against the updated monovalent Covid vaccines since they specifically target XBB variants. However, Moderna, Novavax and Pfizer-BioNTech said their shots provided some protection. Because of how rapidly JN.1 spread, the CDC&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cdc.gov/respiratory-viruses/whats-new/SARS-CoV-2-variant-JN.1.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">said</a>&nbsp;it was the “fastest growing variant in the United States.” WHO also&nbsp;<a href="https://www.who.int/docs/default-source/coronaviruse/18122023_jn.1_ire_clean.pdf?sfvrsn=6103754a_3" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">acknowledged</a>&nbsp;JN.1’s growth, stating it made up the majority of all BA.2.86 subvariants circulating globally, though available evidence suggested it posed a low risk to public health.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">FURTHER READING</h2>



<p><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/ariannajohnson/2024/01/04/heres-where-mask-mandates-are-coming-back-as-covid-cases-and-hospitalizations-rise/?sh=6e54ea132542">Here’s Where Mask Mandates Are Coming Back As Covid Cases And Hospitalizations Rise</a>&nbsp;(Forbes)</p>



<p><a href="https://www.cedars-sinai.org/newsroom/preparing-for-a-tripledemic-holiday-season/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Preparing for a ‘Tripledemic’ Holiday Season</a>&nbsp;(Cedars-Sinai)</p>



<p><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/roberthart/2023/12/20/jn1-covid-variant-of-interest-spreading-fast-in-us---heres-what-to-know/?sh=4fafa4dc10cc">JN.1 Covid ‘Variant Of Interest’ Spreading Fast In U.S. — Here’s What To Know</a>&nbsp;(Forbes)</p>



<p><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/ariannajohnson/2023/11/28/what-to-know-about-rapidly-spreading-pirola-covid-variant-ba286-and-if-vaccines-offer-protection/?sh=1493441c1978">What To Know About Rapidly Spreading ‘Pirola’ Covid Variant BA.2.86—And If Vaccines Offer Protection</a>&nbsp;(Forbes)</p>


TUNISIA-HEALTH-VIRUS-TOURISM-HOSPITAL

Covid Hospitalizations And Deaths See Double-Digit Spike After Holiday — Amid Surge In Respiratory Illnesses


<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-topline">TOPLINE</h2>



<p>The World Health Organization said it is tracking a new coronavirus “variant of interest” called JN.1, an offshoot of the highly mutated “Pirola” strain that is spreading rapidly around the world and has become the fastest growing variant in the United States.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-facts">KEY FACTS</h2>



<p>JN.1 is an offshoot of the highly mutated omicron variant BA.2.86, often given the nickname “<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/roberthart/2023/09/06/modernas-updated-covid-vaccine-is-effective-against-pirola-variant-as-concern-over-new-strain-grows/?sh=6dd42d971a06">Pirola</a>,” which some experts&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/ariannajohnson/2023/11/28/what-to-know-about-rapidly-spreading-pirola-covid-variant-ba286-and-if-vaccines-offer-protection/?sh=5d1849481978">worried</a>&nbsp;could&nbsp;<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/sep/08/pirola-latest-covid-variant-spreading-in-uk-health-data-suggests" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">evade</a>&nbsp;protection from prior infections and vaccination and trigger a large wave of disease like the original omicron variant did when it emerged.</p>



<p>As the WHO already classified BA.2.86 a “variant of interest”—a strain of virus with genetic changes known or believed to affect traits like transmissibility, immune escape and disease severity and that is spreading in a way that could pose “an emerging risk to global public health”—and tracked JN.1 as part of this group, it was already considered to be a “variant of interest” anyway.</p>



<p>The WHO&nbsp;<a href="https://www.who.int/docs/default-source/coronaviruse/18122023_jn.1_ire_clean.pdf?sfvrsn=6103754a_3" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">said</a>&nbsp;JN.1 now merits its own standalone classification on account of its “rapidly increasing spread” around the world, adding that it now makes up the “vast majority” of BA.2.86 descendents reported.</p>



<p>The UN agency stressed available evidence, while “limited,” suggests the strain poses a “low” risk to public health.</p>



<p>That assessment was&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cdc.gov/respiratory-viruses/whats-new/SARS-CoV-2-variant-JN.1.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">echoed</a>&nbsp;by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in early December, when the agency said the JN.1 variant was responsible for between 15% and 29% of Covid cases and was the “fastest-growing variant in the United States.”</p>



<p>Both health agencies said updated booster vaccines will continue to protect against severe disease and death from JN.1, as they do for other variants, and that there is no sign the strain causes more severe disease compared to other variants.</p>



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<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-we-don-t-know">WHAT WE DON’T KNOW</h2>



<p>“The continued growth of JN.1 suggests that it is either more transmissible or better at evading our immune systems,” the CDC said in early December. However, the agency said it’s not clear how much JN.1 is contributing to the recent uptick in Covid activity given patterns of infection normally observed this time of year. It’s also not clear whether JN.1 produces a different set of symptoms to other variants, the CDC said, noting that symptoms “tend to be similar across variants.” Severity and types of symptoms “usually depend more on a person’s immunity and overall health rather than which variant causes the infection,” the agency said. The CDC said it will continue monitoring the situation and that Covid activity is likely to increase over the month of December, urging people to get vaccinated “if you haven’t received one this fall.”</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-news-peg">NEWS PEG</h2>



<p>JN.1 is on&nbsp;<a href="https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#variant-proportions" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">track</a>&nbsp;to become the dominant variant in the U.S. in a matter of weeks. The agency’s latest projections estimate the variant was responsible for up to 30% of cases as of December 9, up from between 6% and 11% two weeks earlier. It trails dominant variant HV.1, which was responsible for an estimated 27% to 33% of cases as of December 9 and 30% to 34% of cases two weeks before that. In the CDC region covering the Northeast—New Jersey, New York, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands—JN.1 is already the dominant variant and responsible for an estimated 32% of cases. The variant is on a steep upward trajectory in other areas as well and is responsible for between 15% and 26% of cases in regions monitored by the CDC.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-big-number">BIG NUMBER</h2>



<p>1,159,864. That’s how many Covid deaths there have been in the U.S. since January 2020,&nbsp;<a href="https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#datatracker-home" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">according</a>&nbsp;to CDC data. Since early September, there have been around 1,200 to 1,400 Covid deaths across the country each week, some of the lowest figures since the pandemic began and down from a peak of nearly 26,000 around the start of 2021 when omicron drove a wave of cases.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-to-watch-for">WHAT TO WATCH FOR</h2>



<p>There is another category that sits above the WHO’s “variant of interest” class that the organization has not used since the emergence of omicron. The “variant of concern” threshold, which would likely secure the variant a Greek letter moniker like alpha, beta or delta, is reserved for strains that pose a significantly increased risk to public health. Such variants would have been shown to be more contagious, cause more severe disease or escape the protection of vaccines and treatments.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-tangent">TANGENT</h2>



<p>The CDC&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cdc.gov/respiratory-viruses/whats-new/SARS-CoV-2-variant-JN.1.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">said</a>&nbsp;JN.1 is still closely related to BA.2.86, despite what the differences in name suggest. The difference comes down to how variants are named, the CDC said, and explained that “there is only a single change between JN.1 and BA.2.86 in the spike protein.” The spike protein is an important part of the coronavirus that allows the virus to enter cells and cause infection.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-further-reading">FURTHER READING</h2>



<p><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/roberthart/2023/09/06/modernas-updated-covid-vaccine-is-effective-against-pirola-variant-as-concern-over-new-strain-grows/?sh=6dd42d971a06">Moderna’s Updated Covid Vaccine Is Effective Against Pirola Variant—As Concern Over New Strain Grows</a>&nbsp;(Forbes)</p>


Netherlands Reimposes Partial Lockdown Amid Latest Covid-19 Wave

JN.1 Covid ‘Variant Of Interest’ Spreading Fast In U.S. — Here’s What To Know


<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-topline">TOPLINE</h2>



<p>The Federal Aviation Administration on Wednesday <a href="https://www.faa.gov/space/stakeholder_engagement/spacex_starship" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">granted a license</a> to billionaire Elon Musk’s SpaceX for its highly anticipated second launch of its Starship rocket, clearing the way for a test flight as soon as this week, after more than six months being grounded since its previous launch ended in a <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/anafaguy/2023/04/20/spacex-starship-explodes-after-launch/?sh=670a7bb36645">fiery explosion</a>.\</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-facts">KEY FACTS</h2>



<p>SpaceX’s Starship, an ambitious program intended to eventually take passengers to the moon and Mars, has met “all safety, environmental, policy and financial responsibility requirements,” the FAA determined.</p>



<p>The FAA’s approval gives SpaceX the go-ahead for a second launch at its Boca Chica launch site in Cameron County, Texas, south of Corpus Christi.</p>



<p>In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, SpaceX said it plans to conduct the launch between 7 a.m. and 9 a.m. local time on Friday.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-background">KEY BACKGROUND</h2>



<p>In April, a SpaceX rocket that had been scheduled to travel 150 miles into Earth’s atmosphere suddenly exploded several minutes after take-off, which SpaceX called a “rapid unscheduled disassembly before stage separation.” SpaceX initially planned its next test launch “in a few months,” Musk—who also owns X and Tesla—said in a&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1649050306943266819" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">post</a>&nbsp;on his social media platform. SpaceX also&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/1649045802332073986" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">said</a>&nbsp;April’s test, despite its explosion, “will help us improve Starship’s reliability.” The FAA was later sued by a group of environmental and cultural heritage organizations, who alleged the agency erred in its approval of the test launch and that its approval violated federal environmental law.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/brianbushard/2023/05/01/faa-sued-over-spacex-starship-explosion/?sh=39c6f88679de">Plaintiffs argued</a>&nbsp;the FAA failed to conduct a full environmental review and did not require SpaceX to mitigate potential environmental harm.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-tangent">TANGENT</h2>



<p>NASA partnered with SpaceX in April 2021 to develop a landing system to take astronauts to the moon for the space agency’s Artemis III mission, another program aimed at bringing astronauts back to the moon for the first time in more than 50 years.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-surprising-fact">SURPRISING FACT</h2>



<p>At 400 feet tall, the Starship rocket is the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.space.com/elon-musk-shows-off-starship-sn20-super-heavy-stack-february-2022" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">tallest and most powerful</a>&nbsp;rocket ever built.</p>



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<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-further-reading">FURTHER READING</h2>



<p><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/anafaguy/2023/04/20/spacex-starship-explodes-after-launch/?sh=670a7bb36645">SpaceX Starship Explodes After Launch</a>&nbsp;(Forbes)</p>



<p><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/jamiecartereurope/2023/04/08/elon-musks-spacex-is-about-to-launch-starship-into-orbit-around-earth/?sh=4dc7196b1ce1">Elon Musk’s SpaceX Is About To Launch ‘Starship’ Into Orbit Around Earth</a>&nbsp;(Forbes)</p>


A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches the third pair of O3b

SpaceX Cleared For Second Starship Test Flight—After First Exploded


<p><strong>The UNICEF has secured a four-year supply of the newly WHO-approved R21/Matrix-M vaccine that could revolutionize malaria prevention, especially in Africa where 90% of fatalities occur.</strong></p>



<p>Malaria, one of the most widely-known parasitic diseases to mankind, takes the life of a child every minute according to World Health Organization (WHO) estimates, with almost 620,000 deaths per year. A staggering 241 million people contract the disease annually, illustrating the global scope of this public health crisis.</p>



<p>Now, a new vaccine has joined the world in the fight against the disease, having obtained WHO approval earlier this month. The United Nations Children&#8217;s Fund (UNICEF) has entered into an agreement to procure a four-year supply of the newly approved R21/Matrix-M vaccine from mid-2024.</p>



<p>The new vaccine is a product of over 35 years of vaccine research, a collaboration between the University of Oxford and the Serum Institute of India, notable in that it is only the second malaria vaccine approved for public use. The first, known as RTS,S, initiated the ground-breaking work in this field but was less efficacious.</p>



<p>Dubbed R21/Matrix-M, it is the first to surpass a 75% efficacy rate, providing protection of up to two years against symptomatic malaria with a single booster – which could be a ground-breaking shift in the fight to eradicate the disease, particularly on the African continent, where some 90% of the fatalities from the illness occur.</p>



<p>&#8220;It is heartbreaking and unacceptable that almost half a million children die of malaria every year. This agreement is a critical step towards protecting more children from this deadly disease,&#8221; said Director of UNICEF Supply Division Leila Pakkala in a press statement announcing the signing of UNICEF&#8217;s supply agreement.</p>



<p>The obtaining of the WHO&#8217;s endorsement earlier this month was critical to allow international bodies such as UNICEF to begin procuring the vaccines, with WHO having vetted the safety profile and efficacy of R21/Matrix-M.</p>



<p>Adar Poonawalla, CEO of the Serum Institute of India, commemorated the WHO endorsement in a press release: &#8220;For far too long, malaria has threatened the lives of billions of people across the globe, disproportionately affecting the most vulnerable amongst us. This is why the WHO recommendation and approval of the R21/Matrix-MTM vaccine marks a huge milestone on our journey to combat this life-threatening disease.&#8221;</p>



<p>The Serum Institute of India has already begun to prepare the production capability to deliver up to 100 million doses per year, to be doubled in the coming two years.</p>



<p><strong>Cost and Delivery</strong></p>



<p>Critically, for a vaccine that aims to prevent severe disease primarily in lower-income countries, the R21/Matrix-M is expected to cost only between $2 and $4 per dose, with an initial regimen consisting of one dose every month for three months, and one booster within the next 12 months – meaning that a full treatment protocol offering high levels of protection for almost two years costs less than $16.</p>



<p>Countries have already begun to factor in the new vaccine into their epidemiological planning, with both Ghana and Nigeria having obtained approval for the vaccine&#8217;s use – Ghana too has begun establishing a vaccine factory in Accra for this purpose in collaboration with the Serum Institute of India.</p>



<p><strong>The Path Forward</strong></p>



<p>Despite the leaps in vaccine development, challenges persist. While vaccines like R21/Matrix-M are revolutionary, they are not the final answer to a disease as complex and historically persistent as malaria. In the interim, nations continue to deploy traditional methods like insecticides, improved housing, and swamp drainage, especially in regions where malaria remains prevalent. It&#8217;s also worth mentioning that mRNA technology, catalyzed by COVID-19 research, holds the promise of even more effective vaccines in the future.</p>



<p>Global efforts have already made significant strides; the WHO reports a 90% decline in malaria mortality rates in the 20th century, but with many in the world still suffering under high rates of the disease, the new vaccine could be key in reducing fatalities in the years to come.</p>


R21-Vaccination (11 of 20); image credit University of Oxford, Tom Wilkinson

The Vaccine That Could Turn The Tide On Malaria In Africa, Where The Disease Is One Of The Biggest Killers


<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-topline">TOPLINE</h2>



<p>The Food and Drug Administration gave&nbsp;<a href="https://www.fda.gov/vaccines-blood-biologics/coronavirus-covid-19-cber-regulated-biologics/novavax-covid-19-vaccine-adjuvanted#:~:text=Novavax%20COVID-19%20Vaccine%2C%20Adjuvanted%20is%20available%20under%20emergency%20use,years%20of%20age%20and%20older" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">emergency use authorization</a>&nbsp;on Tuesday to Novavax’s new Covid vaccine designed to target the coronavirus’ dominant XBB sublineage, which is fueling a spike in cases, hospitalizations and deaths across the country.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-facts">KEY FACTS</h2>



<p>At&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ama-assn.org/delivering-care/public-health/updated-covid-vaccine-who-should-get-it-and-when-it-will-be-available" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">$130</a>&nbsp;a dose, the vaccine was approved for those 12 years and older—for those already vaccinated with any vaccine, one dose can be given at least two months after a person’s last Covid shot, and two doses administered three months apart can be given to the unvaccinated.</p>



<p>Novavax’s approval follows the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/willskipworth/2023/09/11/fda-approves-new-covid-vaccines-to-target-latest-strains/?sh=1be38e906e09">approval</a>&nbsp;of Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech’s monovalent vaccines targeting new coronavirus variant, which were also given emergency use authorization last month by the FDA for those six months and older.</p>



<p>This comes after the agency&nbsp;<a href="https://www.fda.gov/media/169591/download?attachment" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">encouraged</a>&nbsp;Moderna, Pfizer and Novavax to create new monovalent vaccines that target the XBB lineage, which makes up the majority of the variants circulating in the U.S.</p>



<p>The Novavax vaccine&nbsp;<a href="https://ir.novavax.com/press-releases/US-CDC-and-Advisory-Committee-Recommend-Use-of-Authorized-and-Approved-2023-2024-Monovalent-XBB-COVID-19-Vaccines" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">received approval</a>&nbsp;from an advisory committee of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last month, though it still awaits approval from the agency’s director.</p>



<p>This is the first time since the shots were commercialized that they won’t be free, and both&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/science-health-business-covid-medicare-1a5d65356ebc7b5bc76524ae99deb55e" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Pfizer</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/moderna-expects-price-its-covid-vaccine-about-130-us-2023-03-20/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Moderna</a>&nbsp;estimate their shots will cost between $110 and $130 a dose.</p>



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<p>By signing up, you accept and agree to our&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/terms-and-conditions" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Terms of Service</a>&nbsp;(including the class action waiver and arbitration provisions), and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/privacy" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Privacy Statement</a>.</p>



<p>Though most insurance companies are expected to cover the cost of Covid boosters, the CDC’s&nbsp;<a href="https://www.hhs.gov/about/news/2023/07/13/cdc-launch-bridge-access-program-fall-2023-provide-free-covid-19-vaccines-treatments-uninsured-underinsured-adults.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Bridge Program</a>&nbsp;is set to launch this fall, providing Covid vaccine coverage to the uninsured.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-background">KEY BACKGROUND</h2>



<p>Covid-related deaths and hospitalizations have increased since the start of the summer and are expected to keep rising as fall and winter kick into gear. Deaths increased by 8% between September 17 and September 23, and hospitalizations stood at 19,079 during this period, according to the CDC’s most recent data. EG.5, or the “Eris” variant—part of the XBB lineage—is the dominant strain in the U.S., making up 29.4% of all cases between September 17 and September 30. As of June, the XBB omicron subvariants made up 95% of all Covid cases in the U.S., according to an FDA&nbsp;<a href="https://www.fda.gov/media/169591/download?attachment" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">report</a>. The existing bivalent boosters offer about 50% protection against XBB variants in most adults and about 33% protection in those 65 years and older, according to a January&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/72/wr/mm7205e1.htm?s_cid=mm7205e1_w" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">study</a>&nbsp;conducted by the CDC. Moderna&nbsp;<a href="https://investors.modernatx.com/news/news-details/2023/Moderna-Clinical-Trial-Data-Confirm-Its-Updated-COVID-19-Vaccine-Generates-Robust-Immune-Response-in-Humans-Against-Widely-Circulating-Variants/default.aspx" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">said</a>&nbsp;its new booster may be effective at protecting against the Eris variant, Novavax&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2023/08/22/covid-novavax-vaccine-eris-variant.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">said</a>&nbsp;its shot provided a broad immune response against Eris in small animals and Pfizer&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/pfizers-updated-covid-shot-effective-against-eris-variant-mice-study-2023-08-17/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">reported</a>&nbsp;its new shot protected against the variant when tested on mice. Because the current bivalent boosters don’t specifically protect against XBB, some experts&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/ariannajohnson/2023/08/21/new-covid-boosters-expected-this-fall-why-some-doctors-suggest-holding-off-on-getting-your-next-booster-until-then/?sh=447d21af438b">recommend</a>&nbsp;waiting until the new monovalent boosters release before getting an updated shot.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-contra">CONTRA</h2>



<p>An earlier round of updated Covid boosters provided additional protection against previous variants, but only&nbsp;<a href="https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#vaccination-states-jurisdictions" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">17%</a>&nbsp;of the U.S. has received at least one booster.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-tangent">TANGENT</h2>



<p>A new Covid variant called BA.2.86, or “Pirola,” is a descendant of the BA sublineage and has begun circulating in the U.S. Although there aren’t enough cases for it to appear on the CDC’s variant tracker, the World Health Organization has&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/WHO/status/1692255671687794902" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">labeled</a>&nbsp;it as a variant under monitoring. This is because Pirola has 36 more&nbsp;<a href="https://slides.com/jbloom/new_2nd_gen_ba2_variant?ftag=YHF4eb9d17#/3" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">mutation spikes</a>&nbsp;than XBB.1.5—the dominant strain in the U.S. earlier this year—and 34 additional mutations compared to BA.2. Pirola isn’t a descendant of the XBB sublineages, so there may be concern they won’t protect against Pirola. However, Moderna&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/roberthart/2023/09/06/modernas-updated-covid-vaccine-is-effective-against-pirola-variant-as-concern-over-new-strain-grows/?sh=3f334501a06c">said</a>&nbsp;Wednesday its new booster provided an 8.7-fold increase in neutralizing antibodies against Pirola in its clinical trial.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-further-reading">FURTHER READING</h2>



<p><a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/fda-green-light-new-covid-boosters-early-friday-rcna103379" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">FDA could green light new Covid boosters as early as Friday</a>&nbsp;(NBC)</p>



<p><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/roberthart/2023/09/06/modernas-updated-covid-vaccine-is-effective-against-pirola-variant-as-concern-over-new-strain-grows/?sh=3f334501a06c">Moderna’s Updated Covid Vaccine Is Effective Against Pirola Variant—As Concern Over New Strain Grows</a>&nbsp;(Forbes)</p>



<p><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/ariannajohnson/2023/08/21/new-covid-boosters-expected-this-fall-why-some-doctors-suggest-holding-off-on-getting-your-next-booster-until-then/?sh=447d21af438b">New Covid Boosters Expected This Fall: Why Some Doctors Suggest Holding Off On Getting Your Next Booster Until Then</a>&nbsp;(Forbes)</p>



<p><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/ariannajohnson/2023/09/01/its-ok-to-get-your-covid-flu-and-rsv-shots-at-the-same-time-experts-say/?sh=486139df3099">It’s Okay To Get Your Covid, Flu And RSV Shots At The Same Time, Experts Say</a>&nbsp;(Forbes)</p>


FDA Approves Novavax’s New Covid Vaccine Designed To Protect Against The Latest Strain


<p>&#8216;Sustained crisis’. I came across this terminology in a <em>Harvard Business Review </em>article recently, and it immediately struck a chord with my struggles running my company and also with what I see in the world around me.</p>



<p>The Covid-19 pandemic was a global crisis that came out of the blue, and we were all in it together. It did not matter which country we lived in or what our backgrounds were. It was a common fight.</p>



<p>But post-pandemic, we are dealing with a world that has become economically volatile for varying reasons, and it is becoming clearer that each country will first protect its own people and its own interests. Likewise, it has hit the interdependence of certain structures with a fragility like never before. And this has not abated since 2020.</p>



<p>For countries that are largely donor-dependent for their development needs and for humanitarian aid spending, vulnerabilities have increased. The aid narrative comes with its own politics and interests.</p>



<p>Several studies point to the fact that foreign aid is not as generous as it used to be.</p>



<p>In 2022, Ukraine accounted for a large chunk of foreign aid. And now many donor countries are facing pressures of their own from the post Covid-19 economic downturn to geopolitical vulnerabilities and political instabilities that have persisted over a long time.</p>



<p>Developing economies struggle with unsustainable debt burdens, rising food costs and liquidity crises. It is estimated by the World Bank that 7% of the world’s population will still be living in poverty by 2030.</p>



<p>For entrepreneurs in many countries, the ecosystem has changed significantly. Inflation persists and markets continue to shrink. Doing business has become costlier and more complex and negotiating the scale of challenges more difficult.</p>



<p>With increased advanced technological interface in business operations, the ecosystem demands a different resilience that government and business leaders must adopt and adapt to at a faster pace.</p>



<p>The common man is forced to navigate his needs confronted with higher prices, declining savings, more borrowing and employment loss. </p>



<p>In Nepal, where I am, the middle- and lower-income demographic is struggling with job cuts, unpaid salaries, cutdown on consumer expenditure and access to loans. There is a relentless outflow of Nepali youth entering the international labor market. The country’s central bank macroeconomic report shows that in the first 10 months of the current fiscal year, the government has issued permits for over 660,000 Nepalis to work abroad. This number excludes Nepalis going to India for work and the migration of students. </p>



<p>When young people see no future to build their lives in their country, it hurts the productivity and pride of the nation; but there is nothing to hold them back.</p>



<p>A crisis response is effective within a contained timeframe but when there is a prolonged state of crisis, the response needs to be inspired by a wider and more inclusive approach.</p>



<p>I ask what then is the lifeblood that will enable countries to navigate what is now a sustained crisis? Can countries do it alone?</p>



<p>Does this mark the departure of multilateralism? Why are the terms ‘deglobalization’ and ‘dedollarization’ increasingly making the rounds of panel discussions and economic reports?</p>



<p>The lifeblood perhaps lies in our ability to pause, reflect and continue. I believe that sustained crisis can only be overcome by sustained action. However, action must come from deeper values of integrity, innovation and compassion in the unfolding world order. It requires leaders – government and business – to be focused, flexible and decisive. Economic growth and social progress must be given equal emphasis. It requires citizens across the world to be more aware about their choices and actions. This is, perhaps, each one’s obligation and opportunity to create a meaningful world.</p>



<p><em><strong>A writer-photographer from Nepal who keeps the values of freedom and compassion at the core of her work</strong></em></p>


Kathmandu, city view

‘Sustained Crisis Can Only Be Overcome By Sustained Action’


<p><strong>Hydrogen powered fuel-cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) are extremely rare. BMW plans to bring a small fleet of iX5 Hydrogen cars to South Africa in 2024 to gauge interest with government representatives, thought leaders and potential customers. We got a sneak preview of the car at the IAA Mobility 2023 show in Munich.</strong></p>



<p>The world’s largest hydrogen-powered mining vehicle was launched in South Africa by multi-national mining company Anglo American in 2022. The prototype mine haul hybrid truck uses 2MW of hydrogen fuel cells to carry 290-tonnes, designed specifically for mining conditions at Mogalakwena Mine, the world’s largest platinum mine, in the country’s Limpopo province.</p>



<p>At the launch, President Cyril Ramaphosa called it a historic event not because of the impressive piece of machinery, but for being the “genesis of an entire ecosystem powered by hydrogen”.</p>



<p>“This is a gigantic leap for South Africa’s hydrogen future economy,” said Ramaphosa.</p>



<p>Fast forward to the Festival of Motoring in Johannesburg in August this year, when BMW showcased a unique vehicle flown in from its global fleet: an iX5 Hydrogen vehicle.</p>



<p>The display drew lots of attention from visitors. Peter van Binsbergen, the head of BMW Group South Africa, said there were many discussions locally about just energy transition, and with its trial fleet of the vehicle, it would contribute to the development of the hydrogen economy.</p>



<p>“I feel that a country like South Africa, and indeed a continent like Africa, has the ideal conditions to be a leader in generating green hydrogen for industrial and automotive applications,” said van Binsbergen.</p>



<p>In partnership with the South African government and other entities, Anglo American conducted a hydrogen valley feasibility study to identify three potential hubs in the cities of Johannesburg and Durban, and in Limpopo, to integrate hydrogen into the country’s economy.</p>



<p>It is reportedly estimated that the hydrogen valley concept could add between $4 billion to $9 billion to South Africa’s Gross Domestic Product by 2050 and create between 14,000 to 30,000 direct and indirect jobs per year.</p>



<p>Meanwhile, BMW plans to bring a small fleet of iX5 Hydrogen cars to South Africa in 2024 to gauge interest with government representatives, thought leaders and potential customers.</p>



<p>The German auto maker is due to make an announcement soon regarding an agreement with two large South African multinationals to work together to use hydrogen as an energy source.</p>



<p>Speaking to FORBES AFRICA ahead of the IAA Mobility 2023 show in Munich in September, Dr Jürgen Guldner, general program manager of hydrogen technology at the BMW Group, says the future of energy is electric.</p>



<p>“Electricity produced from solar, wind, and hydropower will be the backbone of our energy system, versus today where we produce energy from coal, gas, oil, and a little bit from the sun,” says Guldner.</p>



<p>Electricity has a few issues that can be solved with hydrogen, he explains; the main one being how difficult it is to store electricity over a long period of time. “You have to use something like hydrogen as a gas for chemical component molecules instead of electrons to store energy over longer periods of time, like several months.”</p>



<p>The feedback from BMW customers is that not all are 100% happy with a battery electric vehicle; they want to be emission-free but prefer to drive like they currently do without worrying about charging, he says.</p>



<p>“Hydrogen does exactly this; a hydrogen car is an electric car – the only difference is the energy is stored as hydrogen and not as electricity in a battery.”</p>



<p>The iX5 hydrogen prototype that FORBES AFRICA had access to briefly in Munich showcased the vehicles fitted with two 700-bar tanks that contain 6kg of hydrogen in total, which can be operated in any weather condition. The eDrive’s peak power battery can supply additional power boost on top of the electric energy from the fuel cell system.</p>



<p>The iX5 is based on the current BMW X5, has a total output of 296kW and a range of 504km without refueling the tanks. It can go from 0-100km/h in under six seconds, and has a top speed of 185km/h.</p>



<p>Hydrogen powered fuel-cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) are extremely rare, with only 15,391 units sold globally in 2022, representing 0.02% of global passenger sales when compared to the 10.5 million battery electric vehicles (BEVs) sold in 2022. In Japan alone, there was a huge drop in sales, from 2,440 vehicles sold in 2021, vs. 844 in 2022.</p>



<p>These stats were shared by BloombergNEF <em>Electric Vehicle Outlook 2023</em> report, which said figures were so low that it could not make future projections: “We are not able to make a long-term outlook for passenger FCVs while sales are so low, show limited momentum and are highly concentrated in a few markets and models.”</p>



<p>There are two mass-produced hydrogen vehicles on sale today: the Toyota Mirai and the Hyundai Nexo. Upcoming FCEV models include the BMW iX5, Honda CR-V, Hyundai Staria, Kia Carnival, and Toyota GR Yaris H2.</p>



<p>While the industry is still an experimental one, there are concerns from scientists about the lack of data on hydrogen leaks and the potential harm they could cause, according to <em>Reuters</em>, which may cause a blind spot for the nascent industry. It said at least four studies concluded that hydrogen loses its environmental edge when it seeps into the atmosphere.</p>



<p>Despite this, the European Commission’s proposed REPowerEU plan aims to produce 10 million tons (MT) of renewable hydrogen and 10MT of imported renewable hydrogen by 2030, as part of achieving climate neutrality by 2050.</p>


Tag: Coronavirus Pandemic

FORBES AFRICA SOCIAL MEDIA