As BA.2 subvariant of Omicron rises, lab studies point to signs of severity

The BA.2 virus -- a subvariant of the Omicron coronavirus variant -- isn't just spreading faster than its distant cousin, it may also cause more severe disease and appears capable of thwarting some of the key weapons we have against Covid-19, new research suggests.

New lab experiments from Japan show that BA.2 may have features that make it as capable of causing serious illness as older variants of Covid-19, including Delta.

And like Omicron, it appears to largely escape the immunity created by vaccines. A booster shot restores protection, making illness after infection about 74% less likely.

BA.2 is also resistant to some treatments, including sotrovimab, the monoclonal antibody that's currently being used against Omicron.

The findings were posted Wednesday as a preprint study on the bioRxiv server, before peer review. Normally, before a study is published in medical journal, it is scrutinized by independent experts. Preprints allow research to be shared more quickly, but they are posted before that additional layer of review.

"It might be, from a human's perspective, a worse virus than BA.1 and might be able to transmit better and cause worse disease," says Dr. Daniel Rhoads, section head of microbiology at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio. Rhoads reviewed the study but was not involved in the research.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is keeping close watch on BA.2, said its director, Dr. Rochelle Walensky.

"There is no evidence that the BA.2 lineage is more severe than the BA.1 lineage. CDC continues to monitor variants that are circulating both domestically and internationally," she said Friday. "We will continue to monitor emerging data on disease severity in humans and findings from papers like this conducted in laboratory settings."

BA.2 is highly mutated compared with the original Covid-causing virus that emerged in Wuhan, China. It also has dozens of gene changes that are different from the original Omicron strain, making it as distinct from the most recent pandemic virus as the Alpha, Beta, Gamma and Delta variants were from each other.

Kei Sato, a researcher at the University of Tokyo who conducted the study, argues that these findings prove that BA.2 should not be considered a type of Omicron and that it needs to be more closely monitored.

"As you may know, BA.2 is called 'stealth Omicron,' " Sato told CNN. That's because it doesn't show up on PCR tests as an S-gene target failure, the way Omicron does. Labs therefore have to take an extra step and sequence the virus to find this variant.

"Establishing a method to detect BA.2 specifically would be the first thing" many countries need to do, he says.

"It looks like we might be looking at a new Greek letter here," agreed Deborah Fuller, a virologist at the University of Washington School of Medicine, who reviewed the study but was not part of the research.

Mixed real-world data on subvariant's severity

BA.2 has been estimated to be about 30% more contagious than Omicron, according to the World Health Organization. It has been detected in 74 countries and 47 US states.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that about 4% of Americans with Covid-19 now have infections caused by BA.2, but many other parts of the world have more experience with this variant. It has become dominant in at least 10 other countries: Bangladesh, Brunei, China, Denmark, Guam, India, Montenegro, Nepal, Pakistan and the Philippines, according to World Health Organization's weekly epidemiological report.

However, there's mixed evidence on the severity of BA.2 in the real world. Hospitalizations continue to decline in countries where BA.2 has gained a foothold, like South Africa and the UK. But in Denmark, where BA.2 has become the leading cause of infections, hospitalizations and deaths are rising, according to WHO.

Resistant to monoclonal antibody treatments

The new study found that BA.2 can copy itself in cells more quickly than BA.1, the original version of Omicron. It's also more adept at causing cells to stick together. This allows the virus to create larger clumps of cells, called syncytia, than BA.1. That's concerning because these clumps then become factories for churning out more copies of the virus. Delta was also good at creating syncytia, which is thought to be one reason it was so destructive to the lungs.

When the researchers infected hamsters with BA.2 and BA.1, the animals infected with BA.2 got sicker and had worse lung function. In tissues samples, the lungs of BA.2-infected hamsters had more damage than those infected by BA.1.

Similar to the original Omicron, BA.2 was capable of breaking through antibodies in the blood of people who'd been vaccinated against Covid-19. It was also resistant to the antibodies of people who'd been infected with Covid-19 early in the pandemic, including Alpha and Delta. And BA.2 was almost completely resistant to some monoclonal antibody treatments.

But there was a bright spot: Antibodies in the blood of people who'd recently had Omicron also seemed to have some protection against BA.2, especially if they'd also been vaccinated.

And that raises an important point, Fuller says. Even though BA.2 seems more contagious and pathogenic than Omicron, it may not wind up causing a more devastating wave of Covid-19 infections.

"One of the caveats that we have to think about as we get new variants that might seem more dangerous is the fact that there's two sides to the story," Fuller says.

The virus matters, she says, but as its would-be hosts, so do we.

"Our immune system is evolving as well. And so that's pushing back on things," she said.

Right now, she says, we're in a race against the virus, and the key question is, who's in the lead?

"What we will ultimately want is to have the host be ahead of the virus. In other words, our immunity, be a step ahead of the next variant that comes out, and I don't know that we're quite there yet," she said.

For that reason, Fuller says, she feels like it's not quite time for communities to lift mask mandates.

"Before this thing came out, we were about 10 feet away from the finish line," she said. "Taking off the masks now is not a good idea. It's just going to extend it. Let's get to the finish line."

(Source: CNN)

Where are Britain's missing million workers?

There could be as many as a million missing workers in the UK job market, experts say.

Latest figures suggest that the vast majority of livelihoods survived the end of the furlough scheme, designed to protect the economy from the ravages of Covid.

Fears of a huge spike in unemployment when the support was withdrawn have failed to materialise.

On the contrary: with vacancies at a record high of 1.2 million, many employers are struggling to cope with a shortage of skilled workers.

On Thursday, the government announced plans to get 500,000 jobseekers into jobs by the end of June, with those claiming Universal Credit having to look for jobs outside their chosen field more quickly or face sanctions.

According to the director of the Institute for Employment Studies, Tony Wilson, the problem is that the pandemic has caused the UK labour market to shrink.

"We're seeing unemployment falling, but we're also seeing employment quite a lot lower than it was before the crisis began," he told the BBC.

EPA

So how has that happened?

Well, since the onset of coronavirus, there has been a big rise in the number of people classed as "economically inactive" - that is, people who are not looking for jobs and are not available for work.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) reckons that there are 400,000 more people in that category than there were before the virus hit.

Darren Morgan, director of economic statistics at the ONS, says that total "increased sharply" at the beginning of the pandemic, a rise he describes as "understandable".

"If you lost your job then, there was little point in looking for one, given the economy was closed," he told the BBC.

But since then, the number of economically inactive people has proved "far stickier" than the number of people out of work, he adds.

"We have not seen falls like we've seen in unemployment, and this is particularly the case for those over 50," he said.

That, of course, includes some people who have chosen to take early retirement, although others may feel the choice has been made for them.

Recent research by the Resolution Foundation think-tank also suggests that fewer young men are now economically active, perhaps due to fear of illness or suffering with long Covid, while more women have taken up roles due to the rise in flexible working.

Who else is economically inactive?

Tony Wilson of the IES says students are also a factor.

"A lot of young people decided to stay in education instead of entering the labour market a year ago," he said.

"But actually, more recently it's been growing because of longer-term ill-health" - a problem that includes people suffering from the after-effects of the virus known as "long Covid".

"All told, we think because the labour market was growing pretty consistently over the last few decades, the fact that it's now gone into reverse means that this gap, this half a million gap in employment, is even larger when you account for the growth in the labour market that we were seeing," Mr Wilson says.

"We think there's a gap of about a million people between what the labour market would have been like without Covid and where it is now."

Are there other factors?

Many of the labour shortages in particular sectors have been attributed to a decline in the number of foreign workers in the UK.

Because of a combination of Covid and Brexit, many EU nationals who worked in the UK have returned to their countries of origin.

Mr Wilson of the IES believes that the lack of migrant workers is responsible for the one-third of the shortfall in the labour market, while the rise in economic inactivity accounts for the other two-thirds.

Which sectors are worst affected?

Kate Shoesmith, deputy chief executive of the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC), says the run-up to Christmas was "a touch-and-go moment" for many businesses, with Covid and recruitment problems coming together.

"It was a combination of the lowest candidate availability we've ever known and absence rates creeping up," she told the BBC.

Now Covid sickness rates are settling down, but shortages are still "a big sticking point", she says.

She singles out healthcare as one of the worst-affected sectors currently, with the NHS and private providers trying to woo a limited pool of skilled workers amid high demand for services.

"Sometimes the NHS will be paying more to retain staff, because the NHS and the private sector are competing on wages," she says.

Elsewhere in the economy, efforts to address the chronic shortage of lorry drivers have borne fruit, but at the price of attracting people from other sectors, such as fork-lift truck drivers or warehouse workers, she says.

"You have to look at the supply chain as a whole. There's a sense that we're robbing Peter to pay Paul."

And the beleaguered hospitality sector is under renewed pressure to raise wages, while not having had the chance to replenish cash reserves over the festive season because of Plan B Covid restrictions, she adds.

So what's the solution?

Ms Shoesmith says the answer lies in persuading the economically inactive to return to the job market.

But doing it properly, she says, will require a joint effort between the public and private sectors.

Jobcentres and recruitment agencies "working hand in hand" could rebuild the confidence of people who have dropped out of the job market and help them back into work, she adds.

"After the 2007-08 crash, there was a shared sense of purpose, a combined effort," Ms Shoesmith says.

"Jobcentres can get people in, while recruiters can offer deep understanding of a sector," she says. "We've done it before and we can do it again."

(Source: BBC)

How Manipur churches are trying to curb vaccine hesitancy as ‘satanic’ rumours fly thick & fast

 Manipur has a population of 27.2 lakh (2011 Census), of which only 2.4% was fully vaccinated as of Friday, with 19.3% having taken the first dose.  

From the plains to the hills, anti-vaccine propaganda flows freely from the phones of nearly every person in Manipur. 

In one video, a young man conducting a Facebook Live tells the world, in Manipuri, “There still isn’t a cure for cancer, so how can they make a vaccine so quickly? Just exercise and stay positive. There’s no need for a vaccine.”

Another message claims the vaccine will lead to death within two years of taking the shot. Others say the vaccine will weaken the body’s immune response to other pathogens, or that it will cause metallic objects to stick to the site of the injection (a rumour that also caught on in some western nations).   

A church in Tamenglong, Manipur | Simrin Sirur | ThePrint

This misinformation has left the state government battling widespread vaccine hesitancy that seems to have taken a toll on its immunisation drive.

Manipur has a population of 27.2 lakh (2011 Census), of which only 2.4 per cent was fully vaccinated as of Friday, with 19.3 per cent having taken the first dose.  

“Manipur is a small state. When a rumour goes around, everyone catches on to it and it’s hard to shake,” said an official with the health department who did not wish to be named. 

While the government has had some success administering the vaccines in the plains, misinformation appears to have taken deeper root in the state’s hill districts — rural areas dominated by followers of Christianity. This has added to other factors — the rugged terrain of the hill districts, the difficulty one faces reaching and travelling through them, and a critical lack of infrastructure, including fewer vaccination centres — to result in much lower vaccination numbers than those of the plains. 

In the hills, for example, the district of Noney has administered 8,511 first doses (as of Friday), followed by Pherzawl with 6,635 doses, Kamjong with 4,833, and Tamenglong with 10,294. In contrast, in the plains, Imphal East has administered 1,35,249 first doses, Imphal West 1,64,005, Bishnupur 49,165, and Churachandpur 56,749. 

“There is a lot of hesitancy within the community (Christians). There are all kinds of rumours on YouTube and messages on WhatsApp, but it’s also their own interpretation of the religious texts,” Reverend S. Prim Vaiphei, president of the All Manipur Christian Organisation (AMCO), told ThePrint. 

“There is an idea that the vaccine is related to Satan, or that it will lead to death.”

The church associations of Manipur, many of which are headquartered in Imphal, are making an effort to mobilise the Christian community and encourage members to come forward and get vaccinated. That means addressing the hesitation of church leaders in remote areas, too, they say. 

“Even our leaders have some misconceptions (about the vaccine). We have suggested to the government to have some kind of sensitisation programme so everyone’s doubts can be cleared. They have agreed to do this with us. 

After that, we will use our networks to disseminate the information,” said Reverend T. Karang Maram, publicity secretary of the AMCO and Director, Peace & Development of the Manipur Baptist Convention.

Manipur’s powerful churches

The Christian community, which forms about 40 per cent of the state’s population, closely behind Hindus at 41 per cent, commands an intricate network of churches across the state. 

Manipur’s history is rife with conflict between its various ethnic and tribal groups. Its landscape is dominated by the Meiteis, most of whom are Hindu and live in the plains, and the Kuki-Chin and Naga tribes that predominantly occupy the hills (the former closer to the Mizo border and the latter closer to the Nagaland border). 

The All Manipur Christian Organisation — an association of all denominations across ethnicities formed in 1987 — comes forward in times of crisis to advocate, lobby, and assist the government. 

Each denomination of Christianity, such as the Baptists, Catholics, and Presbyterians, have their own associations with hundreds — sometimes thousands — of churches under them. This network stretches far and wide across the state. 

“In the recent past, churches in Manipur have felt the need to voice together their stand and their concerns in times of political turmoil and crisis in the state,” theological scholar L.H. Nimreila Siang wrote in an essay on church unity, published by the Oxford Centre for Mission Studies in 2016. 

“Churches have played important roles in negotiating peace in society. For instance, in the Kuki-Naga conflict (1992-95), the church negotiated with both parties to stop the killings and the burning down of houses. The churches also organised a pulpit exchange service programme so that church members would forget the trauma created by the conflict,” she wrote. 

The fear about vaccines gripping Christians in the hill districts is another opportunity for the churches to step in and help, several leaders told ThePrint, especially because some of the fear comes from misconceptions related to the Bible.

A common belief is that the vaccine is the “mark of the Beast”, or Satan, brandished upon unbelievers. 

This line of thinking is ascribed by proponents to the Book of Revelations, chapter 13:17, which says, “so that they could not buy or sell unless they had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of its name”. 

“We have been praying for a solution and now that we have a vaccine, people are sceptical and think it is the mark of the beast. Our pastors have been telling them it simply isn’t true,” said Pastor L. Thangkolet with the Kuki Christian Church. 

The Archdiocese of Imphal has set up a Covid-19 task force at all its 52 schools and parishes across the state. 

“We’ve submitted a list of 100 nurses and doctors associated with our churches, so that the state government can contact them when they go for vaccination drives. We’ve sent a circular to all our churches and parishes to encourage people to get vaccinated,” said Reverend Father Biju Lakose, head of the archdiocese’s Covid task force. 

The Manipur Baptist Association — the largest Christian association in terms of membership — will be holding an orientation session with the state government on 3 July to address any misconceptions within its own leadership. This information will then be passed on to members of each church.

The larger church associations also blame “independent” preachers, who do not follow any denomination, for spreading misleading information about the vaccines. Videos and articles dismissing the shots, by some American preachers, are also doing the rounds.

Two independent churches ThePrint reached said they neither endorsed nor renounced the vaccine. 

“North East India Baptist Missions does not have a position relating to Covid-19 vaccination. We believe this to be a matter of personal choice, and neither advise people to accept the vaccination, nor decline the vaccination,” Jim Colyn, an American who serves as director of the independent mission, wrote to ThePrint over email. Their church, Colyn said, has a following of 5,000 online. 

Pastor Mano Oinam, who runs the “International Ministry of Reconciliation Church” with over 2,000 YouTube subscribers and an average of 200 views per video, said, “When people come to me with doubts about the vaccine, I don’t tell them what to do, but tell them to pray and believe till they find clarity themselves.”

The state government’s intervention

Chief Minister N. Biren Singh has repeatedly expressed dismay over the low rates of vaccination in the state. On 2 June, he held a meeting with government officials and religious leaders to discuss ways to improve the Covid-19 situation. The religious leaders subsequently vowed to hold mass prayers, and spread awareness about Covid-19 among tribal residents of the hills.

“We held several meetings with Christian and Muslim leaders separately, who were initially difficult to convince. It has taken a long time, but the Christian community appears to be responding now,” Dr N. Shyamjai Singh, director of the National Health Mission in Manipur told ThePrint. 

“We will orient them on the present situation, warn them about the dangers of the Delta variant, and correct any misconceptions they have on the vaccine’s efficacy.”

Since Monday, Manipur’s total vaccinations have jumped from an average of 5,000 to 6,000 doses to nearly 15,000. A source in the health department said this jump happened after the chief minister “put pressure” on the department in a meeting on 25 June. District magistrates were given targets and asked to submit daily vaccination coverage figures.

Even so, this rise in vaccinations has been largely on account of the plains districts, which were already performing well. For example, according to CoWin data updated Friday, Imphal East (with 26 vaccination sites) administered 4,703 doses in a day, while the number was 7,249 for Imphal West (37), 2,809 for Bishnupur (10) and 1,226 for Churachandpur (9).  

Meanwhile, two doses were given out in Kamjong (1), 246 in Tamenglong (4), 57 in Pherzawl (2), and 285 in Noney (4), on the same day.

While the hill districts are lagging, Dr Shyamjai is confident the gap will be filled in the coming weeks. 

“Apart from getting in touch with the churches, MLAs have been asked to conduct vaccination drives in their own assembly constituencies. District magistrates in the hilly areas, where people cannot always access the healthcare centres, have started a mobile vaccination service which will target a few villages a day,” he told ThePrint.

(Source: The Print)

Covid a hoax, vaccine will kill us, say Aligarh residents who’ve ‘sworn’ against taking shot

 In Aligarh, be it Hindus or Muslims, the young or old, most don't want to get vaccinated against Covid. They claim 99% people die because of it.

A combination of ill-conceived notions, misconceptions, a lack of trust in the Modi government and other insecurities is fuelling vaccine hesitancy in Aligarh, with people of both communities — Muslims and Hindus — saying they don’t want to take the Covid-19 vaccine shots.  

This even as safety trials of Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin, which began in November, are still underway at the Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College (JNMC), which is part of the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) campus in the city. 

Even the death of 18 AMU professors, 16 of whom hadn’t even taken the first dose, has done little to provide a reality check in the region.   

Apart from vaccine hesitancy, there is also little adherence to Covid protocols in Aligarh | Photo: Praveen Jain/ThePrint

ThePrint travelled across Aligarh city Sunday and spoke to people of both communities and all age groups to understand why they don’t want to get vaccinated. 

While some think that the vaccine causes death, most others here still think that the pandemic is nothing but a “rumour”. 

‘Covid is afwa, only 1% live after injection’

For a number of people in Aligarh, the Covid pandemic itself is a hoax. 

Among them is 42-year-old Avdesh Kumar, who works at the Muktidham crematorium. He believes that Covid is an “afwa (rumour)” spread by media and politicians for “TRP and votes”. 

“Covid ek afwa hai. Upar walla ke bharose he hum aaj tak, kuch nahin hua. Kuch hoga toh dekha jayega, sui toh bilkul nahi lagwayenge. (Covid is a rumour. Nothing has happened to us until today. If something happens, we will see but will not take the vaccine),” the 42-year-old said. 

Kumar has cremated around 100 Covid bodies during the course of the pandemic. When asked why he still thinks it’s a rumour, he said, “People are dying because they go to hospitals. Don’t know what doctors do to them that they end up dying. Who knows this might be a strategy to force everyone to take this injection.” 

No one in his family, including his wife and three children, all adults, have taken the vaccine.  

His colleague at the crematorium, 24-year Devendra Kumar, shares similar views. 

“I have warned my wife and other relatives as well, no one should take this vaccine,” Devendra said. 

“They show on TV that after the injection, one is made to sit in the observation room for 30 minutes to see if something goes wrong,” the 24-year-old added. “This shows that the doctors and the Modi government aren’t sure of the side effects. We know that 99 per cent of those who take the shot, fall ill and die. Only 1 per cent live, how do I take this chance?”

Rahul Somkar, a 30-year-old fruit seller, also  believes that the vaccine can lead to death. “My family has warned me against it,” he said. “Kasam khayi hai hum sab ne ki sarkar agar zabarzasti bhi karegi, hum tab bhi nahi lagayenge (We have sworn not to take the vaccine even if the government forces us).”

It’s a view also held by Rajkumar, a ragpicker and part time e-rickshaw puller, who is the sole breadwinner of his family. 

“I have to earn money for my sisters, and younger brother. My mother is handicapped,” he said. “Who will give me guarantee that I won’t die after the vaccine? I have heard stories where so many have died after the shot; the government isn’t telling the truth.” 

‘Never taken an injection in life, won’t take it now’

Sunder Lal, 62, a rickshaw puller, said he will not get vaccinated until his last breath. “Zindagi mein sui nahi lagaya, ab kyu lagau? (I have never taken any injections in my life, why will I take them now?),” he said. 

Lal isn’t the only one to share this view. At least 10 others in the 60-75 age group that ThePrint spoke to echoed similar sentiments. 

“Kuch din bacha hai bas zindagi ke, kaunsa vaccine se jeevan badh jayega (Only a few days of my life are left. It’s not like the vaccine will increase my lifespan),” 72-year-old Abdul Shakoor  said. 

Some others believe that vaccination is a ploy by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to project himself as “God” who can cure everyone with a “sui”. 

“Modi is trying to play God. Will we become completely immune to this Covid if we take the jab? No. Will we become immortals? No,” said Mohammed Farooq. “He is a magician who is trying to make us believe in illusions.” 

Salma, 38, who runs a paan shop said, “Namaaz padhte hai roz, kafi hai (I offer namaz regularly, that is enough).” 

“If this Covid and vaccine are for real, let me ask one thing, why did West Bengal, UP have elections? Why was Kumbh Mela held?” asked 35-year-old Nur Jahan. “This is all a big joke and fools are falling for it and taking the vaccine and they all end up in graves.” 

Mohammed Saleem, 40, and a few others of the Muslim community stated another reason for not getting vaccinated — fear of “sterility”. 

Meanwhile, people across the city, which is under lockdown, continue to flock across streets and lanes without social distancing measures and masks. According to government data, Aligarh has 1,440 active Covid-19 cases and 92 people have died so far in the city. 

(Source: The Print)

The people who want to keep masking: ‘It’s like an invisibility cloak’

 More than a year into the pandemic, some people prefer to keep wearing their face mask – even outdoors in public

She’s been fully vaccinated for three weeks, but Francesca, a 46-year-old professor, does not plan to abandon the face mask that she’s come to view as a kind of “invisibility cloak” just yet.

“Maybe it’s because I’m a New Yorker or maybe it’s because I always feel like I have to present my best self to the world, but it has been such a relief to feel anonymous,” she said. “It’s like having a force field around me that says ‘don’t see me’.”

Francesca is not alone. After more than a year of the coronavirus pandemic, some people – especially some women – are reluctant to give up the pieces of cloth that serve as a potent symbol of our changed reality.

Women wear face masks and sunglasses outdoors in public. Some are reluctant to give up the face covering. Photograph: Mike Blake/Reuters

Whether and when to wear a face mask has been one of the most fraught and divisive debates of the pandemic, from the early days of (bad) expert advice against masking, to the anti-masker protests of summer 2020, and the current, oddly angry public debates about when people should stop wearing masks outside.

US officials in recent weeks have said that fully vaccinated Americans can go outdoors without a face mask, except in big crowds. But while Tucker Carlson on Fox News frames continued mask-wearing as child abuse, Emma Green in the Atlantic portrays liberals who remain very concerned about Covid as anti-science, and various pundits toss around accusations of “irrationality” or pandemic “addiction”, some people told the Guardian that they simply prefer wearing their face masks in public. It has nothing to do with being pro-science or anti-science, liberal or conservative, they said. Instead, it’s about the fact that there are more things that can hurt them than viruses, including the aggressive or unwelcome attention of other people – or even any attention at all.

“It’s a common consensus among my co-workers that we prefer not having customers see our faces,” said Becca Marshalla, 25, who works at a bookstore outside Chicago. “Oftentimes when a customer is being rude or saying off-color political things, I’m not allowed to grimace or ‘make a face’ because that will set them off. With a mask, I don’t have to smile at them or worry about keeping a neutral face.”

“I have had customers get very upset when I don’t smile at them,” she added. “I deal with anti-maskers constantly at work. They have threatened to hurt me, tried to get me fired, thrown things at me and yelled ‘fuck you’ in my face. If wearing a mask in the park separates me from them, I’m cool with that.”

Aimee, a 44-year-old screenwriter who lives in Los Angeles, said that wearing a mask in public even after she’s been vaccinated gives her a kind of “emotional freedom”. “I don’t want to feel the pressure of smiling at people to make sure everyone knows I’m ‘friendly’ and ‘likable’,” she said. “It’s almost like taking away the male gaze. There’s freedom in taking that power back.”

Bob Hall, a 75-year-old retired researcher in New Jersey with a self-described “naturally grim countenance [that] tends to be off-putting to others”, concurred. “In the United States there is an obligation to appear happy, and I get told to smile and ‘be happy’ a lot, which is very annoying,” he said. “The mask frees me from this.”

For Elizabeth, a 46-year-old tutor living near Atlanta, Georgia, the mask has accomplished for her social anxiety what years of therapy and medication have not: allowing her to feel comfortable while out in the world.

“I’m short and fat and if I don’t moisturize compulsively, my face is constantly flaking,” she said. “It’s easy to feel like I’m surrounded by mocking, disapproving eyes … Nothing has shielded me from the feeling of vulnerability like a mask has.”

Who has the right to exist in public without question is one of the constant, defining struggles of any society. For years, countries have debated and even banned Muslim women from wearing the niqab, a full-face veil, and women who wear the hijab, a head scarf, face high rates of discrimination. Some Muslim women told researcher Anna Piela that the pandemic allowed them to feel more comfortable adopting the niqab, which they had wanted to do before.

Early in the pandemic, many Asian Americans and Asian immigrants were among the first to adopt face masks, a decision that may have protected their health while simultaneously making them targets for racism. A year later, with coronavirus cases down but concerns about anti-Asian hate crimes much higher, some are looking to masks as a form of disguise.

“The night of the Atlanta murders, I was messaging with another Asian American friend and she mentioned making sure to wear sunglasses and a mask before she went out, just so that no one could see her eyes or nose and guess she’s Asian,” said Jane C Hu, a 34-year-old science journalist living in Seattle. “I definitely feel a sense of protection when no one can see my face.”

A woman wears a face mask as she walks in Manhattan, New York. Photograph: Kena Betancur/AFP/Getty Images

Jinghua, a 34-year-old non-binary writer living in Melbourne, Australia, said that masking had provided relief from being wrongly perceived “as a woman or a little boy” in public.

“I appreciated that I felt a bit more anonymous in a mask and more gender ambiguous,” they said. “After lockdown ended, it was confronting to go out and be exposed to all that offhand racism, sexism and misgendering from strangers again … Sometimes when I’m just going out to grab takeaway, I’ve enjoyed keeping the mask on even though it’s not really necessary here now.”

The sense of privacy that masks can provide in public is somewhat offset by the scrutiny some remote workers now feel when they’re at home, but working.

Hartley Miller, a 33-year-old tech worker in San Francisco, said that the past year of constant, camera-on Zoom calls has seriously exacerbated her body dysmorphia, a mental health condition that involves obsessive thinking about a perceived flaw in one’s appearance.

“I just stare at that little box with my face in it and pick apart my appearance,” she said, noting that her distress is affecting her job performance. “My double chin seems six times larger, my eye bags are too deep of a purple, etc … Even when there’s a heatwave and my apartment is close to 90 degrees, I’ll wear a turtleneck that I can pull up. I pack on thick makeup that makes my skin peel.”

Going out in public with a black surgical mask that covers her chin and sunglasses that cover her eye bags provides Miller with an escape from that sense of scrutiny.

“I 10,000% plan on wearing it for the foreseeable future,” she said. “After a full work day of worrying and not being able to focus on my actual job, it just feels nice to blend in. Simply put, I’m sick of being perceived.”

(Source: The Guardian)

UK man becomes second person ever cured of HIV

 No active viral load detected in Adam Castillejo’s body since he was declared free of HIV last March

A 40-year-old man from London is believed to have become the second person in the world to be cured of HIV.

Adam Castillejo remains free of the virus 30 months after he stopped anti-retroviral therapy, doctors said.

A stem-cell treatment he underwent for a cancer also cured him of HIV, according to study published in medical journal The Lancet.

The first person cured of HIV was Timothy Brown, intially known only as the “Berlin patient”, in 2011. He received a similar treatment and was found to be free of the the virus after three-and-a-half years.

Donors of the stem cells received by Mr Castillejo have an uncommon gene that gives them protection against HIV.

Mr Castillejo, now known in the medical commuity as the “London patient”, has no detectable active HIV viral load in his blood, semen or tissue. He was declared free of the virus just over a year ago.

Doctors say 40-year-old Adam Castillejo is free of HIV 30 months after ending anti-retroviral treatment, due to a stem-cell treatment he received for cancer (Getty Images)

According to scientists, stem cell transplants appear to halt the virus’s ability to replicate itself inside the body by replacing the patient’s own immune cells with donor ones that resist the infection.

Tests carried out on Mr Castillejo suggest 99 per cent of his immune cells have been replaced by donor ones.

Lead researcher Professor Ravindra Kumar Gupta, of the University of Cambridge, told BBC News: “This represents HIV cure with almost certainty. We have now had two and a half years with anti-retroviral-free remission.

“Our findings show that the success of stem-cell transplantation as a cure for HIV, first reported nine years ago in the Berlin patient, can be replicated.”

However, the “high-risk”  stem-cell treatment is aggressive and was primarily used to treat the patient’s cancers, not their HIV.

Existing HIV drugs remain highly effective and enable people living with HIV to live long and healthy lives.

Prof Gupta said the treatment is “only used as a last resort for patients with HIV who also have life-threatening haematological malignancies”.

“Therefore, this is not a treatment that would be offered widely to patients with HIV who are on successful anti-retroviral treatment,” he said.

There is also no absolute certainty that Mr Castillejo or Mr Brown’s HIV will never return, as both patients still have remnants of the virus in their bodies.

Mr Castillejo told the New York Times: “This is a unique position to be in, a unique and very humbling position.

“I want to be an ambassador of hope. I don’t want people to think, ‘Oh, you’ve been chosen.’

“No, it just happened. I was in the right place, probably at the right time, when it happened.”

(Source: The Independent)

Declining a Covid-19 vaccine risks penalties in some countries

 Indonesia levies fines, while other governments warn of restricting access to travel and public places

Some countries are sharpening their Covid-19 vaccination pitches to the public: Get a shot or face a potential penalty.

With vaccination campaigns ramping up globally and some supply shortages easing, governments are looking for ways to make sure that holdouts don’t undermine efforts to vaccinate enough people to achieve herd immunity.

The penalties range from fines and restricting access to public places to threatening the loss of priority access to vaccines.

Indonesia has said authorities may impose fines on residents who refuse to get vaccinated. The capital, Jakarta, has threatened fines of up to $356—or more than a month’s salary on average, according to the country’s per capita gross domestic product.

A woman receives a vaccine in Jakarta, Indonesia. Officials in the country say sanctions are a last effort to get people inoculated. PHOTO: ZULKARNAIN/XINHUA/ZUMA PRESS

Israel, home to the world’s fastest Covid-19 vaccine rollout, drew a firm line between those who had and hadn’t received shots as it unveiled plans on Sunday to reopen society. Those with what are called green passports, which verify a vaccination, could enter gyms, hotels and eventually travel without quarantining. Holdouts, Israel’s health minister said, “will be left behind.”

The European Union and Australian officials have considered travel restrictions for those without vaccination proof. Brazil’s Supreme Court ruled those who reject a Covid-19 vaccine could be banned from certain public activities and spaces. Brazilians have protested against mandating Covid-19 vaccines.

For other countries, the penalty will be restricting access to the vaccine itself. Singapore has threatened to not reserve doses for those who decline to be inoculated, and South Korea has said those who skip will be booted to the back of the line.

More people expressed an intent to get a Covid-19 vaccination in an Ipsos survey released earlier this month, with the sentiment rising from late last year. The survey polled adults 75 years old and younger from 15 major countries. 

But in the majority of polled countries, at least one in five people remained wary of being vaccinated, citing side effects, accelerated clinical trials and efficacy as the main reasons for their hesitation.

Officials are dealing with how best to compel citizens on the fence. Health experts warn that being too prescriptive could be ineffective, pointing to backlashes against government efforts to reduce smoking decades ago and getting people to wear face masks during the pandemic. The World Health Organization has cautioned that making Covid-19 vaccinations mandatory could discourage people from getting vaccinated.

“In public health, it is generally best to work with carrots rather than sticks,” said Dr. Ranit Mishori, a senior medical adviser at Physicians for Human Rights, an advocacy group. “We need to meet people where they are.”

The U.S., Japan and much of Europe have so far made taking vaccines voluntary. To encourage citizens, politicians have received shots on live television, while governments have unrolled aggressive campaigns seeking to get the word out.

Fears about Covid-19 vaccines might be only part of the reason for lower participation rates. The barriers to get inoculation for many vulnerable citizens remain too high, beyond shortfalls in supply, because of a lack of outreach, complications in making an appointment or even getting time off from work to get a shot, said Dr. Mishori, who also teaches family health at Georgetown University.

Still, officials in Indonesia say they expect to encounter resistance to vaccines. According to a mid-December poll by Saiful Mujani Research and Consulting, an Indonesian polling firm, 37% of respondents say they would take a vaccine for Covid-19, 17% said they wouldn’t and 40% said they were undecided.

“Sanctions are our last effort to encourage people’s participation,” health ministry official Siti Nadia Tarmizi said, according to a Reuters article.

Other countries in Asia aren’t facing as much resistance, but relative success in containing Covid-19 has left people with less urgency about getting vaccinated. Less than half of South Koreans, or about 46%, are willing to be vaccinated right away, according to a poll by the Korea Society Opinion Institute released on Monday. Nearly half of the other adult respondents preferred to monitor the situation.

South Korea, which begins its vaccine rollout on Friday, wants to vaccinate 70% of the population by November—or the equivalent of everyone but those pregnant and 18 or younger, who are likely to be prioritized last because of a lack of clinical trial data for those groups.

People who don’t register when it is their turn to get vaccinated will be put at the back of the line, including healthcare workers who are first in line, Seoul officials have said. “We ask that you trust them and fully participate in receiving inoculation of the vaccines,” Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun said on Sunday.

In the coming months, as vaccinations become more widespread, employers, schools and other institutions might look to enforce vaccine requirements of their own, health experts say.

The Vatican said it would explore alternative solutions for workers refusing to get Covid-19 vaccines, after getting blowback from a decree earlier this month that suggested employees could lose their jobs if they skipped inoculations. The Feb. 8 decree from the Vatican City’s governor said those turning down vaccinations without a health reason could be given another position.

Countries with higher intentions to be vaccinated against Covid-19 tended to be Asian nations with strong trust in the government, such as China, Singapore and South Korea, according to a study published by Nature Medicine, a medical journal, in October. But people were less likely to accept a vaccine if it is mandated rather than recommended, according to the study’s author, who surveyed people in 19 countries.

“In some Asian countries where people are more acquainted with the government being more assertive, obligating citizens to get vaccinated may be more accepted,” said William Schaffner, professor of preventive medicine at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. “But it’s an entirely new technology, made very rapidly, so you have to respect people’s skepticism and hesitancy.”

(Source: WSJ)