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Eco/Invest/Demography

Have to assume pandemic is going to get worse: Fauci

Fauci’s comments on Tuesday came after the US registered a record high 65,000 deaths in the past 28 days, making December the worst month for coronavirus fatalities since the start of the pandemic.

December’s figure, roughly equivalent to over 1.6 Americans lost to the virus every minute, marked a significant surge from that in the entire month of November which registered 36,964 fatalities.

The country’s overall the overall death toll currently stood at 338,544, the highest in the world, according to the Johns Hopkins University.

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Study uncovers blood vessel damage, inflammation in COVID-19 patients’ brains

The researchers saw no signs of infection in the brain tissue samples even though they used several methods for detecting genetic material or proteins from SARS-CoV-2.

“So far, our results suggest that the damage we saw may not have been not caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus directly infecting the brain,” said Dr. Nath. “In the future, we plan to study how COVID-19 harms the brain’s blood vessels and whether that produces some of the short- and long-term symptoms we see in patients.”

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India drug regulator approves AstraZeneca COVID vaccine, country’s first

Cheaper and easier to distribute than rival shots, the AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine could be a game-changer for global immunisation.
The Central Drugs Standard Control Organization is also considering emergency-use authorisation applications for vaccines made by Pfizer Inc with Germany’s BioNTech, and by India’s Bharat Biotech.
India wants to start administering the vaccine soon, most likely by Wednesday, said one of the sources, both of whom declined to be named ahead of an official announcement expected later in the day.

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WHO emergency COVID-19 vaccine listing aims to lift access in poor countries

The United Nations health agency said it will work with regional partners to tell national health authorities about the two-dose shot and its anticipated benefits.

The WHO established its emergency use listing (EUL) process to help poorer countries without their own regulatory resources quickly approve medicines new diseases like COVID-19, which otherwise could lead to delays.

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Drugmakers to hike prices for 2021 as pandemic, political pressure put revenues at risk

President-elect Biden has also vowed to reduce drug costs and to allow Medicare, a U.S. government health insurance program, to negotiate drug prices. He has support from Congressional Democrats to pass such legislation, which the Congressional Budget Office has said could cost the industry more than $300 billion by 2029.

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Coronavirus vaccines could have potential allergic reactions, assures new studyBoston

The study published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, in response to accounts of potential allergic reactions in some people following COVID-19 vaccination in the United Kingdom, that country’s medical regulatory agency advised that individuals with a history of anaphylaxis to medicine or food should avoid COVID-19 vaccination.

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