IowaBio wants to provide our members useful information during the COVID-19 pandemic. This newsletter compiles information on state, federal and industry action to combat the virus and its impacts.
If your company is helping respond to COVID-19, IowaBio wants to know about it. Please, send any information about what your biotechnology company or organization is doing to help, to Jessica Hyland at Jessica@iowabio.org.
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Past IowaBio COVID-19 Update newsletters are now available at www.iowabio.org/COVID19 and can be found under the Industry News tab on the IowaBio website. IowaBio Update
Today is your last chance to register for IBSC — IowaBio’s annual conference bringing together Iowa’s bioscience ecosystem over two mornings next week on March 2-3.
As a reader of our COVID-19 update, you may particularly want to attend virtual sessions presented by the Iowa Immunizes Coalition, our plenary panel (Nigel Reuel of Skroot Laboratories) and by ISU’s Michael Cho: Developing Vaccines Against COVID-19 and Beyond in the 21st Century. Don’t miss finding out who wins $10,000 at our pitch competition, or who wins this year’s Biotech Leader Award. You can also listen to our keynote speaker BIO’s dynamic new CEO, Dr. Michelle McMurray-Heath, and get a state and federal legislative update on issues important to our members! See the full agenda here.
Yesterday at her press conference, the Governor said the CDC updated its dashboard so statistics look a little different, but that Iowa’s numbers on vaccinations are good. The CDC is reporting that Iowa has administered 622,000 vaccine doses to Iowans 18 and up. 19.2 percent of all eligible Iowans have received at least one dose and 271,000 Iowans 65 and up have had their first dose, and that’s nearly 53 percent of Iowans in that age group. In just the last 7 days nearly 83,000 have received the vaccine, nearly 64,000 were first doses.
We can now project when eligible populations will reach critical vaccination milestones and when we might expand access to the next group, the Governor said. Next week we project that nearly 70 percent of the first-tier populations will have received their first dose, and this includes first responders, teachers and staff, and childcare workers. And 70 percent of Iowans 65 and older will get a first dose by mid-March. Essential workers and those with disabilities in home settings will be eligible in mid-march and reach 70 percent by early-April. They can expand at that time to the next eligible group, she said.
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Once a group becomes eligible, they remain eligible. Once the 70 percent mark in a population is hit, they can move to the next group. These are not hard dates, and some areas of the state will be able to transition to the next group faster than others. These projections are just estimates and show when vaccinations might open up further, she said. Timelines will vary county by county and based on the size of their populations. Other reasons can change projections, as well.
The White House provided an update on vaccine delays because of severe weather, the Governor reported. 6 million doses were backlogged because of weather. Since the weekend more than 15 million doses shipped nationwide to clear the backlog. Deliveries have been running late which delayed vaccination clinics in many communities, but now that the supply is back on track they will be able to resume.
The vaccine allocation to states will increase by another 1 million doses, and are looking to project vaccine allocations to the state 2-3 months in advance, which will help with planning.
They are already planning to distribute the Johnson & Johnson (J&J) vaccine when it is approved, the Governor said. 25,800 will be sent to Iowa in its initial allocation next week. J&J will provide 20 million doses by the end of march and signed a contract to provide the US Government with 100 million doses by the end of June. Essential workers in food and manufacturing companies will be targeted in the next phase and they will take advantage of J&J vaccine to do that, she said.
They are looking into how to set up mass vaccination clinics. They will be allocating more vaccines to counties who can get vaccines administered quickly. Right now the projections of additional vaccines including Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson will really change in March and April, she said. Things will change relatively quickly, she said. She said sometimes we need to step back and have perspective, that it’s not even been a year since the pandemic started, and Iowa is vaccinating its population.
The progress we’ve made over the last several weeks is pushing us toward a turning point in our COVID-19 recovery. One way we can continue this is the vaccination process. Iowans need a reliable source of vaccine information specific to our state, the Governor said.
She said that on Friday (today) vaccinate.iowa.gov will launch to provide resources, answers to Frequently Asked Questions, a vaccine locator for nearby providers to get details about scheduling. They are working with existing providers to create a one-stop shop to schedule directly through provider websites. You won’t be able to schedule through the site, but it will connect you to a provider for scheduling in their system. Appointments will become easier to schedule once vaccine supply increases.
Older Iowans make up 18 percent of our population. They are at greatest risk to COVID-19 and it is critical to get them vaccinated; However, the vaccine process is largely managed online, she said. This is a problem for many older Iowans. They are establishing a 211 call center so Iowans can get assistance with vaccination, starting the week of March 8.
Some vaccine navigators will start tomorrow to reach out to those who have reached out to Area Agencies on Aging to schedule appointments, who gathered a waiting list of those who want help. This 211 service is only for adults 65 and older for those who really need help scheduling a vaccine appointment. These are people who don’t have a computer, or can’t use one, individuals don’t have anyone to assist them, or have exhausted their attempts to get the vaccine but are still unsuccessful, she said. The 211 service will schedule appointments for them at a nearby HyVee. She will share more information next week, on this service. The Governor said don’t call yet. They are working through the area agencies on aging waitlist first, and will begin to take calls March 8. Navigators will ask for name birthdate and county of residence only. They will not ask for any other information.
Statistics
Last week the Governor announced changes to the statistics tracked, and this week we began reporting those changes here. The state is no longer tracking testing by individual and now reports total tests—including repeat testing. This shift will be notable in this report in the positive test number, and positivity rate stats. This update will no longer track individuals recovered, as the state no longer reports this individual-based information. Just before this change, nearly 400,000 individuals had tested positive since tracking began. The school statistics by county have also been removed from the state’s dashboard, since the state now requires an in-person learning option for all schools, and no longer links school guidance to the 15 percent county-level positivity statistic. Because hospital data will be an even more important indicator with these changes, this report will now include more information on hospitalizations.
The overall number of vaccines administered is 626,947 an increase of 22,464 since yesterday, with 362,491 receiving their first dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine and 155,382 receiving their second dose. To find vaccine providers in your county, click here or scroll to the bottom of the vaccine dashboard.
Currently, IDPH has reported on the state’s coronavirus dashboard 362,491 positive tests were reported, up 720 from our update yesterday morning, with a total of 4,028,874 tests.
23 additional deaths were reported since our last update, bringing the total to 5,438 deaths.
The total 14 day rolling average positivity rate is 4.1% the past 7-day average is 4.1%.
The latest on hospitalizations, can be found here. There are currently 196 hospitalized patients—down 81 since yesterday-- with 46 in the ICU, and 27 admitted in the last 24 hours.
Washington, D.C.
The FDA said the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine has met the requirements for EUA. Today, FDA’s VRBPAC will meet to discuss the vaccine and next steps. The VRBPAC meeting agenda and briefing materials have been released and the meeting will be live webcast here.
President Biden announced that the Administration will deliver more than 25 million masks to over 1,300 Community Health Centers across the country as well as 60,000 food pantries and soup kitchens, in an effort to provide vulnerable populations with masks. A fact sheet on the initiative is here.
President Biden signed an EO on America's supply chains, which includes an order that the HHS Secretary submit a report identifying risks in the supply chain for pharmaceuticals and active pharmaceutical ingredients and policy recommendations to address these risks. The report is meant to complement the ongoing work to secure the supply chains for COVID-19 materials, including PPE.
The Administration has also extended the COVID-19 emergency declaration, which will be in place for at least the next 90 days.
The FDA launched a new webpage with information and resources from the CDC and other trusted partners to help employers in the food and agriculture sector communicate about COVID-19 vaccination in their workforce.
Yesterday, the FDA announced that it is allowing undiluted frozen vials of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine to be transported and stored at conventional temperatures commonly found in pharmaceutical freezers for a period of up to two weeks. The change is reflected in updates to the Fact Sheet for Healthcare Providers Administering Vaccine.
Important recommendations for patients and their caregivers on how to use pulse oximeters at home.
Recommendations for health care providers on how to use pulse oximeters for better accuracy.
Background on pulse oximeters and the FDA’s actions to evaluate factors that may affect pulse oximeter accuracy and performance.
Instructions for reporting problems with pulse oximeters to the FDA.
The most recent White House COVID-19 Response Team briefings is here (2/24).
NIH Director Francis Collins announced the Agency has launched a new initiative to study "Long COVID." The goal is to identify the causes and ultimately the means of prevention and treatment of individuals who have been sickened by COVID-19, but don’t recover fully over a period of a few weeks.
The CDC has published and updated a number of COVID-19 and vaccine materials and resources on its dashboard, and you can keep track of vaccinations here. Please continue to check these for information on things like recommended quarantine periods and return-to-work guidance. To highlight a few of the recent updates:
331 tests and sample collection devices are authorized by the FDA under EUA. These include 247 molecular tests and sample collection devices, 70 antibody tests, and 14 antigen tests. There are 37 molecular authorizations that can be used with home-collected samples. There is one molecular prescription at-home test, one antigen prescription at-home test, and one over-the-counter at-home antigen test.
The House Budget Committee approved the $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package yesterday, setting up a vote in the full House later this week that could go into the weekend. Text of the bill can be found here and the press release here.
Updates from the States
Out of the cases under investigation detected by U.S. surveillance, there are28,138,938 total cases and503,587 deaths.The CDC data closes out the day before reporting.
The U.S. is averaging fewer than 70,000 new cases a day for the first time since October.
Deaths are down from their peak, but about 2,000 deaths continue to be announced nationwide on most days. California deaths surpassed 50,000 this week, accounting for roughly one in 10 of coronavirus deaths in the U.S.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) announced that the state is partnering with OptumServe and local counties to open 11 vaccination sites within the next week to serve communities in the Central Valley.
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) amended and extended an EO establishing directives for the COVID-19 Dial Framework. The order was amended to add level Red into certain restrictions the Colorado Department of Public Health can set by Public Health Order.
Colorado’s Department of Public Health and Environment announced that Abbot Binax rapid tests will be administered by medical professionals for the legislative session.
Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont (D) announced that the state will continue with an age-based approach to expanding eligibility for COVID-19 vaccinations. Pre-K-12 school staff and teachers, and professional child care providers will be eligible to receive the vaccine in March at dedicated clinics that will be set up specifically for those sectors.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) announced the establishment of six additional COVID-19 vaccination sites in underserved communities.
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker (D) announced the launch of two additional state-supported mass vaccination sites in Rockford and Collinsville. The sites launched on Feb. 23 and each will provide up to 1,350 doses per day at full capacity.
Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly (D) issued an EO allowing temporary authorization for additional vaccinators during Kansas’ state of disaster emergency. The order allows state health care professionals such as pharmacy students, dentists, paramedics, and others who may administer injections or inoculations within their scope of practice to administer a coronavirus vaccine that is approved or authorized by the FDA.
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear (D) is working with the Lexington chapter of the NAACP to advance his commitment to providing equitable access to COVID-19 vaccinations across Kentucky. Gov. Beshear also announced an EO that recommends all school districts offer some in-person instructional opportunities beginning March 1.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Waltz (D) announced Hy-Vee will be added to the expanding network of pharmacies vaccinating Minnesotans across the state. Hy-Vee joins two other retail pharmacies in Minnesota — Walmart and Thrifty White — that are participating in the Federal Retail Pharmacy Program that launched earlier this month.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) announced new guidelines for visitation of residents in nursing home facilities in accordance with CMS and CDC guidelines to begin on Feb. 26.
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper (R) signed an EO to ease COVID-19 restrictions. The order allows bars to offer indoor service, increases alcohol sale cutoff times from 9 PM to 11 PM, and allows businesses to operate at 30 percent capacity up to 250 people.
Oregon Gov. Kate Brown (D) announced that 16 counties improved in risk level, with 10 of those improving from Extreme Risk.
Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf (D) announced that more than 600 skilled nursing facilities have received first and second doses of the vaccine, and, in total, more than 315,000 doses of vaccine have been administered among all long-term care facilities being vaccinated by CVS and Walgreens.
Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam (D) announced certain outdoor sports and entertainment venues may begin to operate at increased capacity starting March 1.
Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers (D) announced the locations of four additional community-based vaccination clinics.
Useful state data:
Use Johns Hopkins University’s COVID-19 U.S. map as a resource for media, policymakers, and communities to view a collection of critical public health data in one online destination and better understand and track the COVID-19 pandemic in populations both large and small across the country. NPR's map can also be used to monitor your state's heat wave.
NASHP has developed a COVID-19 State Action Center which serves as a state-level policy dashboard. Governing is also keeping a running tally of coronavirus news and impacts at the intersection of the health and economic crises in the states and localities.
This site from the Kaiser Family Foundation provides state-level information on cases/deaths, social distancing measures, health policy actions, and more.
This series of maps shows how states are responding to COVID-19.
Science, Lifestyle, and Economy
More than 91.6 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been distributed across the U.S., and more than 46 million people have received their first dose, according to CDC data.
Moderna has completed enrollment of 3,000 participants in a clinical trial testing its COVID-19 vaccine in kids between ages 12 and 17.
CDC released an MMWR on suspected recurrent SARS-CoV-2 infections among residents of a skilled nursing facility during a second COIVD-19 outbreak in Kentucky. Five residents of a skilled nursing facility received positive SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid test results in two separate COVID-19 outbreaks separated by 3 months. Residents received at least four negative test results between the two outbreaks, suggesting the possibility of reinfection. Severity of disease in the five residents during the second outbreak was worse than that during the first outbreak and included one death.
A part of the NIH’s Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics (RADx) initiative, the RADx Underserved Populations (RADx-UP) program is focusing on assessing and removing barriers to testing for populations disproportionately affected by the pandemic, including African Americans, American Indians/Alaska Natives, Latinos/Latinas, Native Hawaiians, older adults, pregnant women and those who are homeless or incarcerated. RADx-UP aims to develop strategies to reduce disparities in COVID-19 testing by supporting more than 70 projects across the country that have existing community partnerships. The Communities Fighting COVID! project integrates a major research center with more than a dozen community organizations and a network of community health workers to boost COVID-19 testing among populations in San Diego.
Among a group of hundreds of thousands of Americans who tested positive for a SARS-CoV-2 infection, the risk of developing a subsequent infection more than three months later was about 90 percent lower than it was for people who had not been previously infected and therefore had no immunity to the virus, according to researchers from the National Cancer Institute.
A new Google-funded repository at the Data Science Initiative called Global.health is collecting an unprecedented amount of anonymized information about individual cases in one place. For each individual, the database includes up to 40 associated variables, such as the date when they first had COVID-19 symptoms, the date they received a positive test, and their travel history.
Two separate teams of researchers said this week they have found a worrying new coronavirus variant in New York City and elsewhere in the Northeast that carries mutations that help it evade the body's natural immune response, as well as the effects of monoclonal antibody treatments. Genomics researchers have named the variant B.1.526. It appears in people affected in diverse neighborhoods of New York City and is scattered in the Northeast.
A Danish study suggests that people infected with the B117 COVID-19 variant may have a 60 percent higher risk of being hospitalized. In a Press Conference today, the WHO said the B117 variant is more transmissible and results in more severe illness.
The WHO has agreed on a no-fault compensation plan for claims of serious side effects in people in 92 poorer countries due to get COVID-19 vaccines via the Covax program.
A Kaiser Health News investigation found COVID-19 vaccine registration and information websites at the federal, state, and local levels are flouting disability rights laws and limiting the ability of people who are blind or visually impaired to sign up for shots.
AstraZeneca has told the E.U. it expects to deliver less than half the COVID-19 vaccines it was contracted to supply in the second quarter. Four out of five of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine doses delivered to E.U. countries are yet to be used on patients.
The Olympic torch audience has been asked to applaud rather than cheer on the passing runners.
France’s Six Nations rugby game against Scotland has been postponed after another player tested positive for COVID-19, taking the tally of confirmed cases among the French team to 16.
Ten orangutans have been airlifted back to their natural habitat on Indonesia’s Borneo island, due to the dangers of COVID-19 infection.
The WHO keeps a running list of COVID-19 vaccine candidates, which you can view here. STAT News also has a resource tracking COVID-19 drugs and vaccines. BIO’s pipeline tracker is here. The New York Times has a very helpful vaccine tracker as well, which you can view here. This AVAC pipeline tracker is great, too.
The Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security has an extensive list of commercial and lab-developed tests.
Continue to look at the NIH Office of Portfolio Analysis’s (OPA) expert-curated portfolio of COVID-19 publications and preprints. The portfolio includes peer-reviewed articles from PubMed and preprints from medRxiv, bioRxiv, ChemRxiv, and arXiv. It is updated daily with the latest available data and enables users to explore and analyze the rapidly growing set of advances in COVID-19 research.
International Affairs
Here is the most recent edition of the WHO's Weekly Epidemiological Update and here is the most recent edition of the WHO's Weekly Operational Update.
The WHO says global deaths are down 20 percent since last week, and cases have been declining for six straight weeks. However, more than 2.5 million people around the world have died from COVID-19, according to data compiled by John Hopkins University.
Ghana received the world's first Covax shipment of 600,000 AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccines yesterday.
New Zealand has made mask wearing compulsory on all trains, buses, and planes around the country.
Air New Zealand will trial a digital vaccine passport in April on flights between Auckland and Sydney.
Oman will not allow people from 10 countries to enter the country for 15 days starting today. The countries are Sudan, Lebanon, South Africa, Brazil, Nigeria, Tanzania, Ghana, Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Ethiopia.
Greek hospital doctors have gone on strike today and dozens marched in Athens to protest “suffocating” conditions at hospitals during the pandemic. Greece has also delayed lifting lockdown restrictions in the wider Athens area on March 1, as previously planned.
Israel announced it will send surplus COVID-19 vaccinations to several countries, in the latest move to suggest limited global supplies will lead to a new form of diplomatic currency.
The Netherlands eased restrictions, allowing schools and hairdressers to reopen.
Spain has extended a ban on arrivals from Britain, Brazil, and South Africa until March 16.
Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Hungary, and Sweden have been given 10 days to respond to the European Commission’s concerns that they have breached commonly agreed upon COVID-19 guidelines.
France ICU patients with COVID-19 reached a 12-week high of 3,435. The French government has ordered a weekend lockdown in the Dunkirk area.
Israel will impose an evening curfew of 8:30 PM to 5 AM for three nights to curb the spread of COVID-19 during the Jewish holiday of Purim.
Israel’s parliament has passed a law allowing the government to share the identities of people not vaccinated against COVID-19 with other authorities, raising privacy concerns for those opting out of inoculation.
Ireland is reopening some schools next week but is extending other lockdown restrictions until April.
Sweden will ease restrictions on elderly residents of care homes who have been vaccinated against COVID-19. The Swedish government has also said it would reduce opening hours for all restaurants, bars, and cafes, and tighten limits on the number of people allowed in shops.
Denmark will ease some shopping restrictions and allow schools in parts of the country to reopen on March 1.
Switzerland is set to ease out of its lockdown beginning March 1, confirming preliminary plans to open shops, museums, and libraries and allow outdoor gatherings of up to 15 people.
Jordan announced stricter measures yesterday to curb the spread of COVID-19, including a 10 PM curfew effective today.
Canada’s largest city, Toronto, has cancelled all large in-person, city-permitted outdoor events through July.
Australian airline Qantas is preparing to resume regular international flights beginning late October.
The Finnish Prime Minister said the country would go into a three-week lockdown beginning on March 8.
Croatia will allow bars and restaurants to open their outdoor terraces next week after a more than three-month closure due to COVID-19 restrictions.
Afghanistan has launched a COVID-19 vaccination campaign using AstraZeneca vaccines donated by India earlier this month.
UNICEF has sent 100,000 syringes to the Maldives in preparation for the first deliveries of Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines under the Covax program.
Here is the most recent COVIDView from CDC, a weekly summary and interpretation of key indicators that have been adapted to track the COVID-19 pandemic in the U.S.
This week’s MMWR podcast summarizes recent reports on the demographics of those who received the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, COVID-19 risk factors among sexual minorities, and more.
