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The potential for reinfection of recovered COVID-19 patients has created a new and disturbing wrinkle, as a confirmed case in Nevada revealed on Friday and fears of an isolated case in Hong Kong.
The Nevada man was first confirmed positive for the virus in April and was reconfirmed 48 days later in June. Some experts have said that patients can stay positive for months, even without symptoms and after recovery. However, the latest developments confirm that even those who recover are not protected indefinitely by antibodies.
Researchers confirmed reinfection in Nevada through genetic data in the two positive results, which were different. The case amplifies concerns about a second wave coming in the fall and winter – which is expected to collide with the annual flu season.
The global pandemic has reached nearly 24.5 million cases and killed more than 832,000 people. The United States, India and Brazil lead the rankings with millions of cases, while Russia is approaching one million cases. Domestic cases are approaching nearly 6 million, and more than 180,000 have died.
Countries around the world continue to fight the global pandemic as large companies apply treatments and vaccines at unprecedented speeds.
While Western countries like the US, UK, and Germany are working on leading vaccine candidates, Russia has already claimed to have a ready-to-use vaccine and China has issued clearances for it. emergency use for multiple applicants.
Sinovac’s candidate, CoronaVac, was cleared last month, and one SinoPharm candidate was cleared recently, according to reports. But China has not officially provided many details.
Last month, the country cleared the use of trial vaccines on high-risk populations, and CanSino’s candidate was cleared for use by the military for a year.
CanSino has sought outside China, however, as the Canada-China company sought emergency use permits for its candidate by other countries, according to the Wall Street Journal.
While the vaccine race has sown the seeds of nationalism, putting a question mark on which countries could have access to a vaccine, it remains to be seen who signs with China.
Whether or not other countries trust the regulatory and safety process in China is a concern, as pharmaceutical companies find it much easier to have free and open conversations with Chinese regulators than in the United States. or in Europe.
Zeke Emanuel, vice-provost for global initiatives and chairman of the department of medical ethics and health policy at the University of Pennsylvania, said the race to be first was not the ideal strategy.
“China, Russia and the UK see this first crossing of the finish line as a test of their science and ability. I keep saying … being the first to cross the finish line reflects how easy it is to produce samples, not how likely they are to be effective, ”Emanuel told Yahoo Finance, adding that there will likely be many versions of the coronavirus vaccine as durability and efficacy will be lower in the first round.
When asked if the United States can use Chinese vaccines, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Anthony Fauci, said there would be no need to consider. He said in a recent interview with Yahoo Finance that “my prediction would be that we would have more than one candidate who eventually gets to the point of proving their safety and effectiveness.”
Anjalee Khemlani is a journalist at Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter: @AnjKhem
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