From the Omicron and siblings front —
The Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra renewed the declaration of a public health emergency due to Covid for another 90 days from April 16. Roll Call provides background on this expected decision.
Beckers Hospital Review summarizes an interview the White House’s new COVID-19 response coordinator, Ashish Jha, MD, recently gave to NPR. The article describes Dr. Jha as optimistic.
Roll Call also offers its perspectives on the CDC’s Covid vaccination strategy.
Some experts question boosting with vaccines modeled on the original virus as new variants sweep the globe. The immune system responds most quickly to variants it has already encountered, and evidence has shown that people infected with a significantly different variant of a virus can potentially suffer worse reactions when a new wave hits.
But it’s not yet clear if this is the case with COVID-19 or whether the current vaccines have broad enough protection to neutralize this phenomenon, known as “original antigenic sin.”
“Theoretically, repeated exposure to an older variant formula may drive our immune system to concentrate too much on old features and not on new features,” Katelyn Jetelina, an assistant professor at University of Texas Health Science Center, wrote in her Substack newsletter. “But despite some truly surprising evolutionary leaps of the virus (like Omicron) we have not seen any convincing evidence of OAS among humans, which is great news.”
There’s also disagreement in the medical community about whether more COVID-19 shots of any kind are necessary for the broader public beyond the elderly and high-risk. The debate has muddled the message on already confusing booster recommendations.
“The FDA and CDC have kind of come out with, like, a lukewarm, ‘Yeah, you can do this,’ as opposed to, ‘Run and do it now.’ And you know, that’s going to leave most people confused,” said Jen Kates, Kaiser Family Foundation director of global health and HIV policy.
In this regard, the Wall Street Journal discusses “Why It Is Hard to Know Who Needs a Covid Booster: Mysterious T Cells: Vaccine experts aren’t certain who under 65 years should get a second booster–and when–because the response of T cells is poorly understood.”
Researchers and U.S. health officials measuring whether Covid-19 vaccines work have largely focused on the body’s first-line defense, called antibodies. The Food and Drug Administration recently cleared a second booster shot partly based on real-world research out of Israel showing the extra dose restored antibody levels that had waned and reduced risk of infections.
“You have T cells that are not waning to the same degree and are likely a big part of what’s going to keep you out of the hospital,” said John Wherry, director of the Institute for Immunology at the University of Pennsylvania.
The presence of T cells, vaccine experts say, might explain why many vaccinated people who tested positive for Covid-19 several months after their inoculations managed to avoid severe cases.
The T cells continue to work against the virus, according to the experts and studies, after antibodies have waned or lost effectiveness because of a variant.
Some studies have found that T cells from Covid-19 shots persist for at least half a year after initial series of vaccination. A study by researchers at La Jolla Institute and published in the journal Cell in March found that the T cells lasted six months and were about 80% as effective against Omicron as other variants.
Lingering T cells might reduce the need for many healthy people to get a second booster dose within months of their first, some vaccine experts say. In fact, there might be diminishing returns from getting boosters over time if T-cell levels eventually plateau or slowly drop over time as people get more shots, researchers say.
There is limited evidence to go on, however. * * * Dr. Wherry said his lab expects to publish data soon showing that T cells after the initial series of vaccines remain in the body for at least nine to 12 months. “We are building the plane as we’re flying,” Dr. Wherry said.
From the Covid vaccine mandate for federal employees front, Govexec follows up on last week’s decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit lifting the preliminary injunction on that mandate. The FEHBlog noted earlier this week that the federal government has asked the Fifth Circuit to accelerate the effective date for that action. Govexec tells us that the plaintiffs’ attorneys have opposed the government’s motion and intend to petition the Court for a rehearing or a rehearing en banc.
The White House announced “Additional Actions in Response to Vice President Harris’s Call to Action on Maternal Health.” Of interest to FEHB carriers, the fact sheet explains
- “Birthing-Friendly” Hospital Designation: CMS is proposing the “Birthing-Friendly” hospital designation to drive improvements in maternal health outcomes and maternal health equity. The “Birthing-Friendly” hospital designation would assist consumers in choosing hospitals that have demonstrated a commitment to maternal health. The Administration announced this new designation during the White House Maternal Health Day of Action Summit.
- Initially, the designation would be awarded to hospitals based on attestation that the hospital has participated in maternity care quality improvement collaboratives and implemented best practices that advance health care quality, safety, and equity for pregnant and post-partum patients.
- Data will be submitted by hospitals for the first time in May 2022, and CMS will post data for October to December 2021 in fall 2022. Criteria for the designation may be expanded in the future.
OPM’s call letter for 2023 benefit and rate proposals suggested that carriers keep an eye on this initiative.
Speaking of government initiatives, Federal News Network brings us up to date on the TEFCA initiative that would create a backbone for the country’s regional health data networks, among other data resources.
From the government reporting front, HR Dive informs us
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission today opened 2021 data collection reporting for its Employment Information Report (EEO-1), Standard Form 100, Component 1. The filing deadline is May 17, 2022, EEOC said.
Generally, private employers with at least 100 employees must submit an EEO-1 Component 1 report. So must federal contractors with 50 or more employees.
The window for reporting has been shortened significantly compared to the last two years, with HR given a little over one month to complete the form.
Gee, the FEHBlog understood that the Covid public health emergency had been extended.
From the medical research from LifeSciences Intelligence reports
A major international study recently identified 75 genes associated with an increased risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease, including 42 new genes not previously discovered.
The study involving UK Dementia Research Institute researchers enrolled over 100,000 individuals with Alzheimer’s disease and over 600,000 healthy individuals across the UK, US, Australia, and Europe. Researchers studied the differences in their genetic makeup.
Notably, 60–80% of disease risk is based on genetics. Therefore, researchers must continue to uncover the biological causes and develop treatments for the millions of people affected globally.
From the mental healthcare front, Beckers Hospital Review offers a suicide rate of each U.S. state and the District of Columbia in 2020, according to a ranking Kaiser Family Foundation released on April 12. The national age-adjusted suicide rate was 13.5 per 100,000 people in 2020. Wyoming had the highest rate and the District of Columbia the lowest.