COVID-19 Round-Up: Omicron May Overcome Prior COVID Infection; and More

Report Finds World Ill-Prepared for Next Pandemic

The world isn’t ready to prevent or deal with another pandemic because many nations aren’t taking the necessary steps to prepare for what is likely an inevitable future scenario, a new report shows.

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The Global Health Security (GHS) index — an assessment of preparedness for various health emergencies and problems — is produced by the Nuclear Threat Initiative, Economist Impact and the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security at the Bloomberg School of Public Health.

“The 2021 GHS Index continues to show that all countries still lack some critical capacities, which hinders their ability to respond effectively to COVID-19 and reduces their preparedness for future epidemic and pandemic threats. The average country score in 2021 was 38.9 out of 100, which is essentially unchanged from 2019,” the report found.

COVID Booster Cuts Death Rate by 90%, Israeli Study Finds

Booster doses of Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine set recipients up to effectively withstand the ravages of both the Delta and Omicron variants, a group of new studies suggest.

Boosted folks are 90% less likely to die from a Delta infection than people relying solely on the initial two-dose vaccination, Israeli data show.

That protection will be critically important during the next couple of months as the Delta variant continues to dominate throughout the United States, said Dr. William Schaffner, medical director of the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases.

“While we are preoccupied with Omicron, you need to remember that Delta is essentially in every town and city in the United States today — being transmitted, infecting new people, sending people to the hospital, in some parts of the country stressing the health care system once again,” Schaffner said. “Although we have Omicron in the United States and it’s starting to take hold, nonetheless well over 95% of all new infections today are caused by Delta.”

Jim Joyce, CEO, Sigyn Therapeutics, on Blood Purification Technology and Treating Sepsis in COVID Patients

DocWire News spoke with Jim Joyce, Co-Founder, Chairman, and CEO of Sigyn Therapeutics, a developmental technology company focused on treatments for life-threatening inflammatory conditions precipitated by the Cytokine Storm Syndrome, a dangerous immune response that can be initiated by a wide-range of infectious and non-infectious conditions, including COVID-19.

Mr. Joyce discussed the benefits of blood purification technology, and addressed the concern of sepsis, specifically in COVID patients.

Omicron May Overcome Prior COVID Infection

People who’ve already had COVID-19 have a higher risk of reinfection with the Omicron coronavirus variant than with earlier variants, new research shows.

The South African scientists who reported the findings believe that vaccination will have the power to stop severe illness, however.

Speaking at a World Health Organization briefing, study team member Anne von Gottberg, of the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, said she and her colleagues tracked COVID-19 reinfections in South Africa. They found a jump in repeat infections with the new Omicron variant that didn’t occur when two previous variants — including Delta — swept through the country, the Associated Press reported.