NEIDL in the News
You Should Be Afraid of the Next ‘Lab Leak’
Original article from The New York Times Magazine By Jon Gertner. November 23, 2021 Covid might not have come out of a medical research lab, but it raises some urgent questions about how those facilities operate. The National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratories is a seven-story concrete fortress in Boston’s South End, hemmed... More
The new coronavirus variant known as Omicron has the world on edge: Here’s what we know
Original article from The Boston Globe By Martin Finucane. November 26, 2021 It’s not the news that anybody weary of the long slog of the coronavirus pandemic wanted to hear while trying to relax the day after Thanksgiving. But a new and potentially dangerous variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus has been... More
Ask The Doctors: Are we headed into another surge?
Original article from WBUR By Jamie Bologna & Tiziana Dearing. November 16, 2021 And just like that, it seems we're on an upswing. Over the weekend, the Commonwealth marked 24 new COVID deaths, and more than 5,200 new infections. That number — 5,200 — marks a more than 1,200 case increase from the... More
Therapeutics and the part they play in the fight against COVID
Original article from WBUR By Stephano Kotsonis & Meghna Chakrabarti. November 15, 2021 Vaccines are still the first, best way to end the pandemic. But can treatments like monoclonal antibodies and Pfizer’s new antiviral pill help in the fight? "If you can have something by mouth that can quickly be taken and... More
8 lingering questions about the new Covid pills from Merck and Pfizer
Original article from STAT By STAT Staff. November 15, 2021 The past two months have brought extremely good news in the fight against Covid-19. Two different oral treatments have proved effective at both preventing people newly diagnosed with Covid-19 from entering the hospital and from dying. “We’re accelerating our path out of... More
Covid Pills May Save Lives, But They Won’t End the Pandemic
Original article from Bloomberg By Cynthia Koons, Emma Court, & Robert Langreth. November 11, 2021 While new treatments from Pfizer and Merck have the potential to keep people out of the hospital, vaccines are still the best weapon for fighting Covid. The promise of new Covid-19 pills from Pfizer Inc. More
Who Owns the Vaccine? A Conversation With Moderna’s Stéphane Bancel and Dr. Nahid Bhadelia
Original article from WIRED By Brent Rose. November 18, 2021 The roadblocks to getting the Covid-19 vaccine into poorer countries partially come down to a contentious patent dispute. On Tuesday the New York Times dropped a bombshell report about patents around Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccine. After a four-year partnership with the US National... More
Experimental Pfizer pill prevents Covid hospitalizations and deaths
Original article from STAT By Matthew Herper. November 5, 2021 An experimental antiviral pill developed by Pfizer reduced the risk of death and hospitalization by 89% in patients who were newly diagnosed with Covid-19 in a large study, the company said Friday. The development of oral medicines that can be used to... More
Is it COVID, the flu or a common cold? How to tell the difference
Original article from CNET By Dashia Star. November 2, 2021 Flu season is here and the pandemic is still ongoing. Here's what to know about the overlapping symptoms. If a cough, congestion, sneezing fits or scratchy throat weren't enough, trying to figure out whether you're sick with COVID-19, a flu virus or... More
Episode 7: Global Health Security Requires Pandemic Prevention feat. Dr. Keusch
Original article from Sabin Vaccine Institute. October 25, 2021 COVID-19 has cost the world millions of lives and trillions of dollars, and it will not be the last time we face such a threat. But there’s hope, say the diverse and influential experts featured in our seventh documentary episode: it’s within... More
Fights over confidentiality pledge and conflicts of interest tore apart COVID-19 origin probe
Original article from Science By Jon Cohen. October 18, 2021 Former members of The Lancet task force challenge why economist Jeffrey Sachs disbanded effort An effort to probe the origin of the COVID-19 pandemic that was intended to sidestep politics has foundered amid accusations of conflicts of interest and bias. The head... More
The availability of COVID-19 boosters may soon expand dramatically
Original article from NPR By Scott Detrow. October 18, 2021 Transcript: SCOTT DETROW, HOST: The U.S. is on the verge of drastically expanding the availability of COVID-19 vaccine boosters. The FDA and CDC are poised to sign off on Johnson & Johnson and Moderna boosters this week. One of those is a bit... More
Malaria Vaccine—the First Ever to Immunize against a Parasitic Infection—Gets Green Light from WHO (Q&A w/ Davidson Hamer)
Original article from The Brink By Jessica Colarossi. October 7, 2021 Malaria and infectious disease expert says the vaccine could save countless children’s lives in sub-Saharan Africa—but he still has a few concerns In a historic move, the World Health Organization (WHO) on Wednesday announced their recommendation for widespread use of the... More
Timing Is Everything for Merck’s COVID Pill
Original article from The Atlantic By Katherine J. Wu. October 6, 2021 The drug, molnupiravir, is named after Thor’s hammer, Mjölnir. But its power depends on reaching the right people, in the right time frame. Two years into the pandemic, we’ve gotten a lot better at tackling the coronavirus at the extremes... More
MED’s Biology of the Lung Funded through Its 50th—Yes, 50th—Year
Original article from BU Today By Joel Brown. September 23, 2021 BU’s longest running federally funded training program began in 1975 When the School of Medicine training program called Biology of the Lung: A Multidisciplinary Program began, on July 1, 1975, Gerald Ford was president, all four Beatles were alive, and gas... More
Global vaccine equity under pressure as FDA panel limits booster shots
Original article from MSNBC By Aymen Mohyeldin. September 18, 2021 The Food and Drug Administration announced approval for Pfizer booster shots for those aged 65+ and those at risk of severe complications from Covid-19. It falls short of the large-scale roll out the White House was hoping for, but it’ll be... More
Will vaccine mandates slow the pandemic? Yes, scientists say — but not immediately.
Original article from The New York Times By Apoorva Mandavilli. September 10, 2021 President Biden’s new coronavirus vaccine mandates will have sweeping ramifications for businesses, schools and the political discourse in the United States. But for many scientists, the question is a simpler one: Will these measures turn back a surging... More
White House releases $65 billion pandemic preparedness proposal
Original article from Science By Jon Cohen. September 3, 2021 Would establish a “mission control” to coordinate responses to future outbreaks An ambitious new plan from the White House that has a $65.3 billion price tag and an Apollo program design would transform the way the United States responds to pandemics in... More
Special Pathogens Unit Nurses Are Already Preparing for the Next New Virus
Original article from Health City By Meryl Bailey. August 3, 2021 When COVID-19 hit, it proved how vital the SPU's trainings, simulations, and drills were. Nurses were ready to retool hospital procedures in response. At first glimpse, the three rooms with railed beds in Boston Medical Center's Menino building in a small... More
Everything You Need to Know about COVID Booster Shots
Original article from The Brink By Kat J. McAlpine. August 25, 2021 BU epidemiologist explains why coronavirus vaccine boosters are necessary, whether they’ll protect against the Delta variant, more How do booster shots work? Am I eligible for a COVID-19 booster shot? Why are these booster shots needed? What is the difference... More