Coronavirus good news thread

Confirmation that updated vaccines will be approved much faster, if and when required -
‘Britain's medical regulator on Thursday said it would fast-track vaccines for coronavirus variants, adding that the makers of already-authorised shots would not need new lengthy clinical trials to prove their adapted vaccines will work.’

Still waiting for my 1st jab, hopefully within the week
 
A highly effective monoclonal antibody drug has applied for EUA.

While the vaccines are a huge success story, there is still a place and need for treatments so this is excellent news -

‘That evidence included interim analysis of data from 583 patients enrolled in the COMET-ICE trial, which demonstrated an 85% reduction in the hospitalisation or death in high-risk COVID-19patients treated early with VIR-7831 monotherapy compared to placebo.’

 
A highly effective monoclonal antibody drug has applied for EUA.

while the vaccines are a huge success story, there is still a place and need for treatments so this is excellent news -

Agreed. The vaccines won’t get all of them. The company I work for has just abandoned its Covid vaccine research because it’s vaccine doesn’t add anything to those already on the market. It is concentrating on treatments instead
 
Moderna has started testing a vaccine developed specifically to combat the South African variant.

The small trial extends an earlier Phase 2 study, and involves 60 subjects who have already received two doses of the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine. The subjects will either receive a booster designed to protect against the South African variant of the virus, or a multivalent vaccine that combines the original vaccine with the new booster.

Moderna CoVid-19 vaccine booster trials
 
Nasal spray ‘sanitizer’ soon to be available, following trials in U.K. hospital?
Everything that can help is a bonus -


“Our trial included patients with a variant of concern and high viral loads yet still demonstrated significant reductions in the levels of SARS-CoV-2, which could be critical in supporting vaccines, preventing future outbreaks and safely reopening economies,” he said.

 
Indications that babies can receive CoViD-19 antibodies from a vaccinated mother.

A baby girl who was born 3 weeks after her mom got the first dose of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine has antibodies against the coronavirus, according to a pre-print paper published on the medRxiv server in February. The paper hasn't yet been peer-reviewed.

Testing showed that the antibodies passed through the placenta to the baby.
Baby Born to Partially Vaccinated Mom Has COVID-19 Antibodies
 
A CoViD-19 vaccine pill is in clinical trials. Not only would it be easier to distribute, store and administer, it is designed to target the less mutagenic nucleocapsid or N-protein which should give longer-lasting immunity especially against the new variants which involve mainly the spike protein.

According to the developers:

Unlike antibody-based vaccines, T-cell-based vaccines kill the infected cell, preventing virus replication, and could provide long-term immune memory to recipients,” said Patrick Soon-Shiong, chair and chief executive of ImmunityBio. “Pursuing a vaccine that does not rely solely on targeting the S protein where the mutations are occurring is of critical importance as multiple variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus have appeared globally, with concentrated outbreaks beginning in South Africa.”
 
In a human clinical trial, the antiviral drug molnupiravir appears to be highly effective against SARS-CoV-2.

Participants took the pills twice daily for 5 days, and then were followed for a total of 28 days to monitor for complications or adverse event.

... by day 5, none of the participants receiving the active drug had evidence of SARS-CoV-2 in their nasopharynx. In comparison, 24% of people in the placebo arm still had detectable virus.

Five-Day Course of Oral Antiviral Appears to Stop SARS-CoV-2 in Its Tracks
 
The results from the phase 2 trial of this nasal spray sound extremely promising and the company are in discussions to ramp up manufacturing -

“ Our trial included patients with a variant of concern and high viral loads yet still demonstrated significant reductions in the levels of SARS-CoV-2”

‘Patients treated with SaNOtize’s spray saw an average viral log reduction of 1.362 in the first 24 hours, which corresponds to a decline of around 95%. Within 72 hours the viral load plummeted by more than 99%. No adverse events were recorded in the UK trial nor in earlier Canadian trials that saw over 7,000 patients testing the self-administered treatment.’

Based on the trial results, SaNOtize is planning to submit emergency use applications to regulatory authorities in the UK and Canada for the treatment and prevention of Covid-19.

 
The results from the phase 2 trial of this nasal spray sound extremely promising and the company are in discussions to ramp up manufacturing -

“ Our trial included patients with a variant of concern and high viral loads yet still demonstrated significant reductions in the levels of SARS-CoV-2”

‘Patients treated with SaNOtize’s spray saw an average viral log reduction of 1.362 in the first 24 hours, which corresponds to a decline of around 95%. Within 72 hours the viral load plummeted by more than 99%. No adverse events were recorded in the UK trial nor in earlier Canadian trials that saw over 7,000 patients testing the self-administered treatment.’

Based on the trial results, SaNOtize is planning to submit emergency use applications to regulatory authorities in the UK and Canada for the treatment and prevention of Covid-19.


word of caution on this one - the article is actually a month old and the press release has been met with some scepticism on Twitter as it raises quite a few questions. May just be enthusiastic company self PR.
Hopefully will be clarified and turn out to be legit and an effective treatment in time.
 
Nearly one third of recently registered Covid deaths in England and Wales are people who died primarily from other causes, the latest figures show.
Weekly death data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) shows that, for nearly 33 per cent of people included in the overall coronavirus death figures, Covid was not an underlying cause of death but was merely mentioned on the death certificate.
The number of people who are not principally dying from Covid but are still being included in the official figures has been creeping up steadily as the pandemic has declined.
It had been running at around 10 per cent for most of the crisis but had risen to nearly a quarter by mid-April and is continuing to increase.
In the latest data, published on Wednesday, which records death registrations in the week ending April 23, some 260 deaths from Covid were recorded in England and Wales, but only 67.7 per cent (176) of those had the virus as an underlying cause.
The new figures showed that more people are now dying from flu and pneumonia than Covid for the first time since before the second wave.
While 176 people were listed as dying from Covid as the underlying cause, 278 died from influenza and pneumonia.
The figures show that coronavirus deaths in England and Wales now make up just 2.6 per cent of all deaths – the lowest since September. At the height of the second wave earlier this year, some 45.7 per cent of all deaths involved the virus.

England and Wales have been trending well below the five-year average death rate for the past seven weeks, with the latest data showing 5.3 per cent fewer deaths recorded overall compared to the expected figure and 497 fewer deaths than the previous week.



From The Telegraph.
 
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