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How Pfizer Won the Pandemic, Reaping Outsize Profit and Influence

Kaiser Health News reported:

The grinding two-plus years of the pandemic have yielded outsize benefits for one company — Pfizer — making it both highly influential and hugely profitable as COVID-19 continues to infect tens of thousands of people and kill hundreds each day.

Its success in developing COVID medicines has given the drugmaker unusual weight in determining U.S. health policy. Based on internal research, the company’s executives have frequently announced the next stage in the fight against the pandemic before government officials have had time to study the issue, annoying many experts in the medical field and leaving some patients unsure whom to trust.

Pfizer’s 2021 revenue was $81.3 billion, roughly double its revenue in 2020, when its top sellers were a pneumonia vaccine, the cancer drug Ibrance and the fibromyalgia treatment Lyrica, which had gone off-patent.

Now its mRNA vaccine holds 70% of the U.S. and European markets. And its antiviral Paxlovid is the pill of choice to treat early symptoms of COVID. This year, the company expects to rake in more than $50 billion in global revenue from the two medications alone.

‘Two Doses Are No Longer Enough’: Canadians Should Expect to Get COVID Shot Every Nine Months, Says Health Minister

Vancouver Sun reported:

As we continue to live with COVID-19, it turns out we will also have to get used to living with COVID-19 vaccinations. Canadians will be required to get a booster shot every nine months for the foreseeable future, Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos told reporters.

Duclos said that the previous definitions of “fully vaccinated” make no sense, explaining that it’s more important that shots are “up to date” and whether or not a person has “received a vaccination in the last nine months.”

He added, “We will never be fully vaccinated against COVID-19,” according to Blacklock’s Reporter.

Duclos was asked if he was preparing Canadians for the return of vaccine mandates in the fall, and he reportedly replied, “We must continue to fight against COVID.” In other words, mandates won’t be ruled out just yet.

Dangerous Incidents at U.K. Laboratories ‘Potentially Exposed Staff to COVID’

The Guardian reported:

Dangerous incidents at U.K. laboratories, hospitals and COVID test centers potentially exposed staff to coronavirus and other hazards over the course of the pandemic, according to official reports obtained by The Guardian.

Many involved leaks and spillages of virus-laden fluids, but investigations also took place into a flood at an animal facility housing COVID-infected monkeys, mix-ups that led scientists to work on live virus by mistake and a researcher being bitten by an infected ferret.

The Health and Safety Executive recorded at least 47 “dangerous occurrences” involving coronavirus at U.K. research facilities, hospitals and Lighthouse labs over the course of the pandemic. Reports from 37 cases were released to the Guardian under the Freedom of Information Act. The rest were withheld because of ongoing investigations.

CureVac Sues BioNTech Over Alleged COVID Vaccine Patent Violations

Deutsche Welle reported:

German pharmaceutical firm CureVac announced on Tuesday that it is suing fellow German competitor BioNTech over the latter’s vaccine against COVID-19.

It’s one of the first known cases of a pharmaceutical company taking another to court over the heated race to develop a coronavirus vaccine that could curb deaths and hospitalizations during the pandemic.

In a statement, Tübingen-based CureVac said the company “will assert its intellectual property rights from more than two decades of pioneering mRNA technology that contributed to the development of COVID-19 vaccines.”

It is suing Mainz-based firm BioNTech, as well as two subsidiaries, for alleged infringements involving four patents.

A Florida State Board Removed a Pediatrician Who Advocated That Children Under 5 Get the COVID Vaccine

Insider reported:

A doctor who advocated for parents to get COVID-19 vaccines for children under 5 years said she was unceremoniously removed from a Florida board focusing on kids’ health.

Dr. Lisa Gwynn, a practicing pediatrician within the University of Miami Health System, received an email on Wednesday telling her she was being removed from her position on the Florida Healthy Kids Board of directors because of “some very political statements that do not reflect the CFO’s point of view,” Florida Politics reported.

The email claimed Gwynn has said “that the state is ‘obstruct[ing]’ access to vaccines” and pointed out that the state CFO, Jimmy Patronis, differs in opinion.

Florida is the only state that has not ordered COVID-19 vaccines for kids under 5, despite an endorsement from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

For Now, Wary U.S. Treads Water With Transformed COVID

Associated Press reported:

The fast-changing coronavirus has kicked off summer in the U.S. with lots of infections but relatively few deaths compared to its prior incarnations.

With more Americans shielded from severe illness through vaccination and infection, COVID-19 has transformed — for now at least — into an unpleasant, inconvenient nuisance for many.

Today, in the third year of the pandemic, it’s easy to feel confused by the mixed picture: Repeat infections are increasingly likely, and a sizeable share of those infected will face the lingering symptoms of long COVID-19.

Ultra-Contagious BA.4, BA.5 Subvariants Fuel Coronavirus Spread Across Much of California

Los Angeles Times reported:

In a sign of how the new coronavirus wave continues to spread across California, two-thirds of the state’s counties are now in the high COVID-19 community level, in which the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends universal masking in indoor public spaces.

This comes as health officials are warning of concerning weeks ahead as two new ultra-contagious Omicron subvariants — BA.4 and BA.5 — spread. Experts believe the subvariants, which are not only especially contagious but also capable of reinfecting those who have survived earlier Omicron infection, are a major factor behind the continued persistence of coronavirus transmission across California.

U.S. Seeks 250,000 Mentors, Tutors to Address Pandemic Learning Loss

Reuters reported:

The Biden administration on Tuesday will launch a new effort to recruit 250,000 mentors and tutors to help students who have fallen back in their learning during the coronavirus pandemic, the White House said.

The program, which will be led by AmeriCorps and the Department of Education along with other service organizations, will seek to get adults to fill the roles over the next three years.

Students on average are two to four months behind in reading and math as a result of the pandemic, a White House official said. The program is intended to help address that deficit.

Many Won’t Rely on Virtual Options After COVID: AP-NORC Poll

Associated Press reported:

Many Americans don’t expect to rely on the digital services that became commonplace during the pandemic after COVID-19 subsides, according to a new poll, even though many think it’s a good thing if those options remain available in the future.

Close to half or more of U.S. adults say they are not likely to attend virtual activities, receive virtual healthcare, have groceries delivered or use curbside pickup after the coronavirus pandemic is over, according to a poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. Less than 3 in 10 say they’re very likely to use any of those options at least some of the time.

Still, close to half also say it would be a good thing if virtual options for healthcare, community events and activities like fitness classes or religious services continue after the pandemic.

COVID Could Make You Sicker Every Time You Get It, New Study Finds

The Daily Wire reported:

The first iteration of COVID was bad. But subsequent variants, including Omicron, while more contagious, brought less severe symptoms.

Now, as the virus keeps mutating — and even antibodies built up by having contracted the virus before can’t necessarily keep you from getting it again, a recent study found.

And as if we really needed more bad news, a new study has found that every time you get COVID, you could get sicker than the time before.

“Scientists stressed they need more data before they can say for sure whether, and why, COVID might get worse the second, third or fourth time around,” The Daily Beast reported, citing a study by the U.S. Veterans Administration. “But with more and more people getting reinfected as the pandemic lurches toward its fourth year, the study hints at some of the possible long-term risks.”

These Are the 10 States With the Most Monkeypox Cases

Newsweek reported:

Monkeypox has now been found in 31 U.S. states, as well as Washington, DC, as part of an outbreak that has seen over 5,700 confirmed cases worldwide across 52 countries. That’s according to data from the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Monkeypox is a virus originally passed to humans from animals and is usually seen in Central and West Africa. However, it is currently spreading in populations within non-endemic countries across the world, including rapidly in Europe and North America. Symptoms may include fever, headaches, muscle aches, swollen lymph nodes and exhaustion, followed by a pustulous skin rash that may scar. These symptoms are similar, but less clinically severe, to those of smallpox, which was eradicated in the 1980s.

The ten states with the highest numbers of cases are California, New York, Illinois, Florida, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia, Georgia and Maryland.