The great pandemic: A longish update
First, the numbers: India added 222,704 new cases and 4,452 deaths on Sunday.
Big news about vaccines & variants: Medical data out of the UK caused a stir over the weekend. It looked at how two vaccines—AstraZeneca (Covishield) and Pfizer— performed against the UK and Indian variants (shorthand to indicate origin not xenophobia). The combined data—which was first released in the Financial Times— offered hope, suggesting that two doses of the vaccines offered 81% protection against the Indian variant, and 87% protection against the UK variant.
But, but, but: the unbundled data is far less reassuring. It shows that a single dose of AstraZeneca only offers 33% protection against the Indian variant—and only 59% protection after two doses. Why this matters:
- One, the Indian variant is now dominant across India. And over 90% of Indians who have been vaccinated received Covishield.
- Two, the government has increased the gap between two Covishield shots to 12-16 weeks—which means those who receive just the first shot are not protected. FYI: The government plans to stick with the current interval despite the UK data.
- Three, even with two shots, Covishield’s performance is fairly modest compared to other vaccines like Pfizer—which offers 87.9% protection against the Indian variant. That said, medical consensus is that anything above 50% is good enough, but lower the efficacy, the longer it takes to achieve herd immunity.
- Big point to note: according to experts, the difference in effectiveness between the two vaccines may be explained by the bigger interval between doses for—and “other data on antibody profiles showed that it took longer to reach maximum effectiveness with the AstraZeneca vaccine.”
- What we still don’t know: the interval between the two AstraZeneca vaccines studied in this trial (was it four weeks or 12 weeks); the level of protection against severe disease.
- Indian Express has a long explainer, while The Hindu has the data. Bloomberg News has the good news that all vaccines offer protection against death. And the reason why we are relying on UK data is that we aren’t doing any genome sequencing of our own. The Guardian has that story.
Speaking of vaccines: Here are the other key related headlines:
- According to the government, more than 18 million doses of Sputnik V will be available by August.
- Planning to travel abroad after you are vaccinated? You may be out of luck if you opted for Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin. The reason: it has not been approved by the WHO—which says it needs more data. As a result, the government is working to expedite WHO approvals.
- Pfizer and the government are in a stand-off over indemnity clauses. Pfizer wants protection against any liability if a person suffers severe side effects—a guarantee it has received in other countries. Both sides are working toward a resolution—which will determine when Pfizer will become available in India.
- Moderna has refused to sell its vaccines directly to the Punjab government—saying it will only deal with the Centre.
- Times of India uncovers a puzzling gap between the number of vaccines manufactured in India and those actually administered.
- Bloomberg News (via Hindustan Times) looks at why some countries continue to record Covid surges despite mass vaccinating their people. The TLDR: messengerRNA vaccines make people less contagious, while others do not.
A canine coronavirus? A new coronavirus detected among pneumonia patients in Malaysia may have jumped to humans from dogs. NPR has this potentially worrying story.
Related good reads: Indian Express looks at the BJP push to make its leaders look more “empathetic and sympathetic.” The Guardian looks at why the second wave of the global pandemic is affecting more children. A leading doctor wrote an open letter to the director of AIIMS Dr Randeep Guleria—calling out the serious problems with treatment protocols.
On the lighter side: The scary police personnel enforcing the lockdown in Pune includes Raja, the adorable three-legged dog.
Plus: the latest example of Indian jugaad, the neem leaf mask!
ICYMI over the weekend…
One: The data of 4.5 million Air India passengers—spanning a decade—was hacked. The hackers targeted the database of SITA, a Swiss company that handles passenger reservations, online booking, check in etc. for a number of major airlines. The data accessed: passenger’s name, date of birth, contact information, passport information, ticket information, frequent flyer data and credit card information. The good news: They didn’t get their hands on the CVV since SITA does not store that information. Indian Express has a good explainer.
Two: Former Tehelka founder Tarun Tejpal has been acquitted of all rape charges by a Goa court—eight years after he was first charged. Quint has a timeline of the case, Firstpost looks at what happens next. FYI, the actual judgement has not yet been released.
Three: The ceasefire between Israel and Palestine is still holding—despite a fresh confrontation between police and Israeli Arabs outside the Al-Aqsa mosque. Humanitarian aid is starting to trickle into Gaza—as its hospitals struggle with treating war injuries. A big worry: A huge Covid spike triggered by people crowding into shelters. Washington Post has that story. Also read: our recent explainer on the ceasefire.
A bizarre murder story out of Iran
The nation is in shock over the murder of a 47-year old filmmaker Babak Khorramdin who was killed and dismembered—by his own parents! It gets worse: The couple have now confessed to killing their son-in-law in a similar fashion a decade ago, and daughter three years ago:
“The parents claimed they killed the son-in-law because he was abusive, murdered their daughter because she became addicted to drugs, and targeted their son because he was single and having relationships with students.”
The age of the father and mother: 81 and 74, respectively. The Guardian has more on this insane murder spree.
Three key medical studies
One: A major study found that 80% of menopausal and perimenopausal women experience brain fog and anxiety, while 60% report feeling depressed. And this isn’t just ‘mood swings’, but a serious condition caused by declining levels of estrogen:
“As for why we see these effects on mental health and mood, hormones like estrogen are known to bind to receptors on the brain cells themselves providing stabilization and modulating other chemical messengers like the neurotransmitters acetylcholine, serotonin, dopamine, and GABA… Specifically, two brain areas—the prefrontal cortex and the hippocampus, known for high-level cognitive function, learning, and memory—are rich in estrogen receptors and seem to be affected by a decline in estrogen.”
Two: New research suggests that people who spend moderate to high amounts of time watching TV have comparatively less grey matter in their brains—which typically affects cognitive performance. Also this: “every extra hour of average daily television time between the ages of 30 and 50 was linked to a 0.5 per cent reduction in grey matter volume.” (Times UK)
Three: Scientists have created tiny heart-like structures called “cardioids” using stem cells. Each is the size of a sesame seed with a hollow chamber that actually beats… exactly like a heart. And it mimics a foetal heart around the first month of development. Smithsonian magazine explains why this is a significant breakthrough.
Alabama embraces ‘sanitised’ yoga
The Southern state had banned the practice in government schools back in 1993 as part of a culture war on all un-Christian things. That ban has now been overturned but with certain key caveats:
“‘Chanting, mantras, mudras, use of mandalas, induction of hypnotic states, guided imagery, and namaste greetings shall be expressly prohibited,’ the bill states. It also requires English names be used for all poses and exercises. And before any students try a tree pose, they'll need a parent's permission slip.”
Because tree poses will turn you instantly into a Hindu? Haw, who knew? (NPR)
Two celeb things
One: Angelina Jolie posed for a portrait with bees swarming all over her face and body—as part of a World Bee Day initiative to raise awareness about the urgent need to protect them. National Geographic has more on the campaign and the portrait. See the skin-crawling but astonishing clip from the photo shoot below:
Two: Disgraced and isolated by a series of MeToo allegations, Kevin Spacey is plotting a comeback to the big screen. The project: An Italian film starring Vanessa Redgrave and directed by her husband, Franco Nero. Titled ‘L’uomo che disegnò Dio’ (The Man Who Drew God), it has Spacey playing the role of a detective investigating claims of paedophilia levelled against a blind artist. Umm, we have no words for that kind of gall. (Telegraph UK)
Eurovision winners are here!
The Italian group Måneskin won the cheesy but always fun Eurovision Song Contest for ‘Zittie e Buoni’. The big loser: UK’s James Newman who came last and scored zero points for ‘Embers’! France's Barbara Pravi came second with ‘Voilà’, while Switzerland's Gjon's Tears came third with his ballad ‘Tout l'Univers’. BBC News has more details. The winning song is below.
Dubai’s ‘exotic black cat’ problem
Last week, the Dubai police were frantically looking for a “wild animal” on the loose—which appeared to be a black jaguar or panther roaming freely like so:
Well, authorities have since concluded that the big black beast is just a cat. Haw, so disappointing. (Khaleej Times)