Local air quality is a problem?

Use the chart in yellow to gage your proper response to current conditions

The Air Quality Index and how to use it, explained

8 things you should know about the number that measures bad air.

By Rebecca Leber@rebleberrebecca.leber@vox.com Jun 28, 2023, 2:10pm EDT

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Worsening wildfires mean everyone should have a basic understanding of how to read and respond to the Air Quality Index. It’s a good idea to reduce outdoor exercise on hazardous air days to cut down on exposure. Kamil Krzaczynski/AFP via Getty Images

Rebecca Leber is a senior reporter covering climate change for Vox. She was previously an environmental reporter at Mother Jones, Grist, and the New Republic. Rebecca also serves on the board of the Society of Environmental Journalists.

It’s not enough to trust the senses to know when it’s a bad air day. Well before you can see or smell smoke, it can start wreaking havoc on the lungs.

That haze you can see and smell on a particularly polluted day is made of ozone and fine particulate matter.

Fine particulate matter, known as PM2.5 (the 2.5 microns describes its size, 30 times smaller than the width of a human hair) can embed in the cells of the lung and the bloodstream, aggravating inflammation, asthma, heart disease, and mental health. And ozone causes similar damage. In the stratosphere, ozone blocks ultraviolet radiation from the sun, but at ground level it can cause shortness of breath and damage to respiratory tissue.

Both pollutants can affect the entire body in all stages of life: young and old, and even the developing fetus. They come from sources as varied as the tailpipe of a truck, your neighbor’s barbecue, coal plant, or an incinerator. PM2.5 is capable of traveling thousands of miles across the world on the wind — taking, for instance, about five days to reach the US from China.

RELATED

Why Canada’s wildfires will affect air quality for weeks to come

The dose makes the poison; there is a difference between moderately bad air and really bad air. Public health experts recommend monitoring changes in air quality as often as you check the weather. But you should also know some basic facts to help you determine your own sensitivity to air pollution and the appropriate action to take.

What is the Air Quality Index?

The Air Quality Index, set by the Environmental Protection Agency, is your guide to how bad the air quality is outdoors. The data that goes into the Air Quality Index comes from 5,000 air monitors across the country, including local, state, tribal, and federal reporting.

There are actually two AQIs for air quality, one for particulate matter and one for ozone, but when you see just one AQI, you’re looking at whatever pollutant is the higher of the two.

You can find the latest AQI on the EPA’s AirNow website or by downloading its AirNow app. Weather apps are often using propriety data from a company called BreezoMeter to determine AQI and forecasts. These numbers are based on EPA monitoring but may not be identical to the EPA’s AQI, though they should be in the same ballpark. Outside the US, air pollution monitoring can vary widely depending on the country, so AQIs reported around the world may also be pulling from a mix of computer modeling and satellite data.

There are some important drawbacks to the AQI. It tries to distill a lot of information into one datapoint, and it depends on air monitors often placed near cities and not close to industrial polluters. Since air pollution can vary widely even over short distances — think a busy highway versus a quiet, tree-lined road — the air could be worse if you’re near a pollution source. Communities of color are systematically exposed to more pollution from industrial sources and transportation, and the AQI doesn’t do a good job capturing that disparity.

Thousands of air quality monitors pull data from around the country to calculate the Air Quality Index. While the monitoring captures an accurate high-level view of pollution levels, it doesn’t capture pollution that can vary widely block to block. Hyoung Chang/Denver Post via Getty Images

Who really needs to pay attention to the AQI?

Ideally, everyone should monitor the AQI. EPA experts liken it to understanding the weather.

People have different sensitivities to air pollutants, just as people can have different temperatures they’re comfortable at. They can even be more uncomfortable with one type of pollutant than another.

But the EPA breaks out its recommendations for a general population group and a sensitive population. The sensitive group is actually quite large. If you have asthma or COPD, you fall in this category, but so do young children (under age 5), older adults (over 65), and pregnant people.

“The younger the child is, the faster their breathing, and so pound for pound, they are breathing more air pollution,” said Lisa Patel, a Stanford professor of pediatrics and an executive director of the Medical Society Consortium on Climate and Health. “We use 5 as a cut-off for particular vulnerabilities because age 0-5 is a period of really rapid lung growth. And so exposure to those toxins so early is particularly concerning, but it’s also concerning across the entire spectrum of ages.”

RELATED

Smoky air puts everyone at risk — but it’s worse for some

Even if you don’t fall into one of the sensitive categories, an EPA official explained that the public should still “know their number.” The AQI is based on large population studies, so it doesn’t necessarily help you understand your individual risk. By monitoring the AQI regularly and paying close attention to any symptoms, you can get a feel for the level at which you should take proactive action.

What are the six level of air quality? And when should I be concerned?

The EPA breaks the Air Quality Index into a few categories with different recommendations.

• Green (0–50): The air is safe to breathe.
• Yellow (51–100): The air quality is considered moderate, except for the most sensitive groups.
• Orange (101–150): Sensitive groups should reduce heavy exertion outside or take more breaks, and people with asthma and heart disease should watch for symptoms. The rest of the population may be fine.
• Red (151–200): The air is unhealthy for everyone. Sensitive groups should avoid being active outdoors, while everyone else should reduce their time outdoors.
• Purple (201–300): The air is very unhealthy for everyone. Everyone should consider moving their activities inside.
• Maroon (301 and above): This is the highest level — hazardous — and anyone can be at risk. Everyone should avoid physical activity outdoors, and if you’re sensitive, you should remain indoors.

Doctors and public health experts urge people to monitor any symptoms as pollution levels climb, especially once the AQI is in the orange and red range.

The symptoms to watch can vary. A surefire sign to take it easy (limiting activity outdoors and potentially seeking medical help) is shortness of breath. Coughing, discomfort, and tightness of the chest can all signal issues with breathing.

Other symptoms could be less obvious, throat irritation, fatigue, a stuffy nose or a headache. An EPA expert explained she feels a side stitch when exercising on a bad air day.

In infants, Patel suggests to look out for grunting noises, bobbing heads, and using chest muscles to breathe as warning signs. Kids who have asthma should have an asthma action plan set with a health provider on using an inhaler.

It’s important to pay attention to these symptoms in both adults and children while regularly checking the AQI level at which you start to feel discomfort. Starting this now will help you in the future when you need to decide what precautions to take and when.

What are the precautions I should take outdoors, and when should I take action?

The AQI is most confusing when it falls into the yellow, orange, and red ranges.

If you are sensitive to air pollution, then you want to reduce your exercise and heavy exertion outside once the AQI hits orange. The entire population should start taking precautions when it is in the red territory. You might even want to reconsider spending extensive time outside at these higher levels, and don an N95 or KN95 mask if you do need to be outside (cloth masks will not protect you from PM2.5).

It helps to think about reduction in terms of dosage. You can cut your time outside, your exertion level, or both. If you reduce a 30 minute walk to 15 minutes, you’re cutting your exposure to the pollution by half. If you sit on your porch instead of going for a walk or run, you’re also cutting down how much pollution you inhale.

When is air pollution at its worse?

The time of year, and even the time of day, can matter immensely for air quality.

Ozone is typically at its worst in warmer months, between April and October in the US. It needs sunlight to trigger its chemical reactions, so late afternoons and early evenings can be smoggier than the mornings. Emissions that come from the tailpipes of cars and burning fossil fuels interact to form ozone that can build up to dangerous concentrations depending on geography and weather patterns.

Particulate matter’s worst months are usually peak wildfire season, so late summer and fall. Again, though, there are no strict rules here. Wildfires are no longer contained to predictable seasons due largely to climate change, as the East Coast experienced when Canadian wildfires caused smoggy extremes in early June. Other sources of PM2.5 include barbecues and fireworks, making July Fourth and the days that follow worse for air quality.

Tracey Holloway, an atmospheric scientist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison who works with NASA, also explained that, unlike ozone, PM2.5 “comes in different flavors.” She explained, “There are some situations where PM2.5 is highest at night because it’s trapped [an inversion where the ground is cooler], and there’s some situations where PM2.5 is highest in the middle of the day because it’s cooked up by the sun.”

Though experts focus mostly on the two main pollutants of concern in air pollution, PM2.5 and ozone, there are other substances that can hitch a ride with this pollution. Patel, the pediatrician, said wildfire smoke is especially toxic. Burning trees can release more mercury in the air because of how the pollutant has settled on surfaces. And when fires hit houses and towns, they burn up plastics and petrochemicals, releasing more carcinogenic and metallic substances into  the atmosphere.

Should I be concerned indoors?

Staying indoors helps, but there are some additional actions to consider.

If you have central air conditioning or can access a building with air conditioning, that helps filter out pollutants. Also, HEPA air filters cut down on particulate matter and don’t have to cost a lot. The University of Washington has a manual for building your own low-cost air filter for roughly $20, which can dramatically lower fine particles.

How to make your indoor air better when it’s smoky outside

Since you’re getting a hefty dose of air pollution from the outdoors, it’s even more important not to expose yourself unnecessarily inside. Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health co-director and pediatrician Aaron Bernstein said people do this in ways they don’t realize. They might idle their cars in attached garages, or use fragranced and ozone-forming products, or run wood- or gas-burning stoves and fireplaces that pollute indoor air.

What can my community do to reduce air pollution?

The No. 1 action we can take for better air is addressing the root cause, not just the symptoms. After all, not everyone has control over their outdoor activities, and some communities and outdoor workers face astronomically higher risk from pollution than others. White Americans contribute more to air pollution through their consumption of goods and services, yet Black and Hispanic Americans tend to live in neighborhoods with lower air quality.

One of the challenges in tackling climate change is that the carbon we’re releasing now will stick around in the atmosphere for hundreds of years. That’s fortunately not the case with particulate matter and ozone. They settle in a matter of days, so air can clear almost immediately once we address the sources of pollution. The world experienced how fast the air can improve when road and air travel came to sudden standstill early in the Covid-19 pandemic.

“A lot of air pollution comes from controllable sources,” Holloway said. “When we implement changes to our transportation, industries, energy systems, and roadways, all of those can immediately improve our air quality. Certainly, we can’t just make a policy change and have wildfires go away. But for many other sources of air pollution, there are a lot of available technologies to make the air cleaner.”

Despite worsening wildfires, air quality has on the whole grown cleaner, especially within the United States over the last 40 years, as states have reduced major industrial sources of smog. Environmental regulations have worked as intended to clean up the worst polluters.

“We have already made huge improvements in having cleaner vehicles and trucks, cleaner power plants, and cleaner industrial facilities,” said Holloway. “And these have been deliberate choices that we’ve made.” Holloway believes “this isn’t a hopeless situation” as long as society moves to tackling the sources of the problem.

Above is from:  https://www.vox.com/climate/23769186/bad-air-quality-index-wildfires-pollution

US Medical Glove to open in old Motorola plant

All signs point to U.S. Medical Glove opening plant at former Motorola site in Harvard

Signs for the nitrile glove manufacturer appeared at campus this spring

By Janelle WalkerJune 10, 2023 at 5:00 am CDT

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The former old Motorola campus in Harvard on April 27, 2023. Work is being performed to prepare the campus for a new tenant. The building has been empty since 2003. Signs were haver beed placed around the property warning people to stay away. (Gregory Shaver — gshaver@shawmedia.com/Gregory Shaver for Shaw Media )

The former Motorola plant “is being prepped for occupancy,” but a nondisclosure agreement precludes city officials from providing details, Harvard City Administrator Lou Leone said.

The city also has not seen a lease nor received further documentation about who that occupant may be, Leone said.

Although city officials will not confirm if a new occupa ... [Log in or subscribe to continue reading]

Above is from:  https://www.shawlocal.com/northwest-herald/news/local/2023/06/10/all-signs-point-to-us-medical-glove-opening-harvard-plant-at-former-motorola-site/?utm_source=flipboard&utm_content=other

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Walmart Selects Belvidere for Distribution Center

Staff report from Press Release

On Tuesday, June 20, Walmart announced plans to build a 1.2 million square-foot hightech perishable goods distribution center in Belvidere. This center would handle fresh produce, eggs, dairy, flowers, and frozen goods for delivery to nearby Walmart stores. Locally, Walmart currently operates a retail Supercenter in Belvidere, which sells groceries, general merchandise, and a pharmacy at 2101 Gateway Center Drive.

The new distribution center would be located on Town Hall Road immediately north of US 20 and the sprawling Stellantis Belvidere Assembly Plant. Completion of the new facility is scheduled for 2027.

Boone County officials have been working with the Illinois Department of Transportation over relocating Illinois Route 76 from a proposed roundabout at the current junction of Route 76 and Woodstock Road along a new alignment that would follow Town Hall Road south to US 20.

Walmart is expected to invest over $1.2 billion in the distribution center, which will bring 450 permanent jobs to the area, as well as construction employment. Local taxing bodies are in the process of modifying the BelvidereBoone Enterprise Program. Under this program, this project will be eligible for 50% fee reduction for building permits, building materials sales tax exemptions, property tax abatements, and an investment tax credit. “

The City of Belvidere is excited that Walmart has decided to invest in our community and build their 1.2 million-squarefoot distribution storage facility here,” said Belvidere Mayor Clint Morris. “Walmart’s investment supports our commitment to attract business development and job opportunity and represents a huge success for Belvidere in achieving both.”

Pamela Fettes, Executive Director of Growth Dimensions states that “Growth Dimensions Economic Development is ecstatic that Walmart has chosen BelvidereBoone County for their 1.2 million-square-foot perishable distribution center. We are grateful for Walmart’s investment and the economic impact in Northern Illinois. We look forward to this partnership in years to come.”

Walmart announced its first high-tech perishable goods distribution center in 2018. The speed and efficiency of the systems used in high-tech perishable goods distribution centers, such as the one planned for Belvidere enable the facility to move double the amount of merchandise as compared to a traditional perishable distribution center. Rather than manually stacking boxes and building pallets, the new facility will allow workers to use technology to do the heavy lifting by helping them build more flexible, dense pallets and fit more products onto trucks. These technical improvements also reduce transportation costs, resulting in savings that can be passed on to customers. “

Belvidere Perishable Goods Distribution Center associates will work with cutting-edge technology to stack boxes in a way that not only makes the job less physically demanding, but also avoids damaging products by placing fragile items like eggs at the top. It also maximizes space on trucks so that we can make fewer trips,” said Prathibha Rajashekhar, senior vice president of Innovation & Automation at Walmart U.S. “The end result is getting high quality grocery items like dairy and fresh produce onto our store shelves and in the hands of our customers faster than ever before.” “

Walmart’s investment in technology and high-tech distribution centers paves the way for lasting careers,” said Maren Waggoner, senior vice president of Operations People Partner at Walmart U.S. “Associates who work at the facility will be building skillsets that reflect the modern era of retail, creating new opportunities for career development and lasting growth with Walmart.”

Full-time employees qualify for Walmart’s total rewards and benefits plans, including medical, vision and dental insurance, 401(k) matching, paid time off, stock purchase plan and access to a tuition-paid college degree.

Walmart currently operates seven distribution centers, 184 retail stores, and employs 57,800 associates in the state of Illinois. Globally, the company had fiscal year 2023 revenue of $611 billion and employed approximately 2.1 million employees worldwide with more than 10,500 stores in 20 countries.

From:   June 22, 2023 The Boone County Journal Legislation from page 1 Publisher/Editor David C. Larson

Brace Yourself for Kevin Haas

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  Theater and Dance: Improv/Standup

NECKING with Kevin Haas

Rockford journalist and comedian Kevin Haas broke his neck in a snowboard crash on May 9 in Colorado. This hourlong stand-up special — delivered in neck brace for one night only — breaks down what's so funny about breaking your neck!

Opening for Haas are comedians Dan Garcia, Dame Grant and Kevin Wood.

Tickets: $20 for General Seating ; $70 for 2 person VIP table

Proceeds will go to help Kevin pay off his mounting medical bills. Donations can be made when reserving tickets or at The West Side Show Room on the night of the show.

The West Side Show Room

$20 - $70

Every week through Jun 23, 2023.
Friday: 07:00 PM - 08:30 PM
Friday: 09:00 PM - 10:30 PM

Hope for Belvidere Assembly Plant?

Rockford Register Star

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Mayor: There's still hope to revive Belvidere Assembly Plant

Story by Jeff Kolkey, Rockford Register Star • 11h ago

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The idled Chrysler Belvidere Assembly plant is pictured Tuesday, June 6, 2023, in Belvidere.© Susan Moran/Rockford Register Star

As the weeds grow taller on the Belvidere Assembly Plant campus, Belvidere Mayor Clint Morris is hopeful that the Belvidere Assembly Plant won't remain idle.

Once home to as many as 5,000 production employees, Stellantis idled the plant in February after sales of the Jeep Cherokee faltered and as the company works to transition much of its fleet to electric vehicles. Its remaining 1,219 production workers, some of whom were offered jobs at other plants, were laid off indefinitely.

More: Belvidere residents could face first water rate hike in more than a decade. Here's why

Morris said he remains optimistic the plant will be revived because many of the same reasons the site was chosen to build Chryslers in 1965 are the same reasons it remains a viable option to build the vehicles of tomorrow.

"We have a lot of things going for us," Morris said. "Geographically, it still fits and we still have a great workforce."

Although the employee parking lots are mostly empty at the plant, other lots are filled with pickup trucks and vehicles headed for dealerships across the region. The Belvidere Assembly Plant, despite idling, remains a rail transportation hub for Stellantis vehicles ready to be shipped to dealerships, a company spokeswoman said.

It is unclear if the plant will re-open and what vehicles it would produce if it were to do so.

Stellantis — the maker of Dodge, Jeep and Chrysler vehicles among many others formed from a joining of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and Peugeot of France — has so far not definitively said what its plans are for the 5.4 million-square-foot plant. No closure agreement was reached with the United Auto Workers which has a contract through September with the automaker.

Officials said Illinois Gov. JB Prtizker's office is continuing to engage Stellantis to work out an agreement to revive the plant. And negotiations for a new contract this between the United Auto Workers and Stellantis is also another chance for new products to come to the Belvidere Assembly Plant.

Stellantis has not said where it plans to build two of its planned electric vehicles, the Jeep Recon or the vehicle code named the Wagoneer S.

Morris said Illinois put together an impressive package of incentives that included the Re-Imagining Electric Vehicles Act and a $400 million deal-closing fund. There are also federal incentive programs for the production of electric vehicles.

Illinois is competing with Michigan, Indiana and Canada for Stellantis production models, Morris said. Stellantis recently paused construction of its $3.7 billion electric vehicle battery plant in in Canada amid talks with the government over support for the project.

The company has promised to convert all of its European vehicles into electric vehicles and half its U.S. vehicles to electric, pledging billions of dollars.

State Rep. Dave Vella, D-Rockford, said the location and quality of the Belvidere Assembly Plant "is too good" to remain shuttered for long.

It is on a rail line, along Interstate 90 and near the Chicago Rockford International Airport which makes it attractive, if not for Stellantis, than for other companies, Vella said.

There is also vacant land adjacent to the massive campus for potential battery manufacturing, Vella said.

"This plant is in play," Vella said. "If Stellantis doesn’t come, I truly believe someone else will. But I do think Stellantis is going to come. I think good things are going to happen soon."

Jeff Kolkey can be reached at  (815) 987-1374, via email at jkolkey@rrstar.com and on Twitter @jeffkolkey.

This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: Mayor: There's still hope to revive Belvidere Assembly Plant

Above is from:  Mayor: There's still hope to revive Belvidere Assembly Plant (msn.com)

May 25, 2023: Johns Hopkins COVID 19 Situation Report

COVID-19 Situation Report

Weekly updates on COVID-19 epidemiology, science, policy, and other news you can use.

Click to Subscribe

Announcement

Dear readers,

For nearly 3.5 years, the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security has brought you critical news and analysis on the COVID-19 pandemic through this newsletter, as well as on our website. As the world transitions out of the emergency phase of the pandemic, we also are transitioning: today represents the final COVID-19 Situation Report. However, we are excited to announce we will be bringing you an expanded newsletter that represents the breadth and depth of our work on COVID-19, health security, and pandemic preparedness.

What to expect: A new twice-weekly newsletter arriving in your inbox in July that combines the analysis of the COVID-19 Situation Report with the quick hits of our other newsletter, Health Security Headlines. In the meantime, we invite you to stay abreast of COVID-19 and other important news through Health Security Headlines. Otherwise, you will automatically be transitioned to the new mailing list, so stay tuned!

I would like to thank the Center’s dedicated team of analysts and scholars who have worked tirelessly (7 days a week in the beginning!) to publish this newsletter, and especially Caitlin Rivers and Matthew Shearer, who preceded me in manning this helm. Most importantly, thank YOU—for your readership, for your communications of praise and criticism, and for weathering this storm with us. While the pandemic’s emergency phase is ending, much remains to be reckoned with and learned, and those lessons used to prepare for the next pandemic. See you in July!

Be well,

Alyson Browett, MPH

Editor

In this issue

> End to COVID-19 pandemic emergency phase brings focus on preparedness, response efforts for future health threats

> US debt ceiling negotiations consider takeback of unused COVID-19 emergency relief funds

> WHO advisory group recommends updating COVID-19 vaccines to include XBB subvariant; US FDA set to discuss vaccine composition in June

> Pandemic worsened racial/ethnic disparities in health, highlighting need to confront structural inequities

> China experiencing new wave of COVID-19 cases due to XBB subvariants; authorities working to update vaccines

> Research into new monoclonal antibody therapies moving forward but threatened by lack of long-term investments

> What we're reading

> Epi update

End to COVID-19 pandemic emergency phase brings focus on preparedness, response efforts for future health threats

The COVID-19 pandemic’s impacts, in the US and globally, will be felt for years to come. Though the global COVID-19 emergency has officially ended, SARS-CoV-2 continues to kill at least 1 person every 4 minutes, and questions remain about how to move forward living with a dangerous virus, especially for vulnerable people and countries with less or no access to vaccines and treatments. Meantime, the world must also prepare for the threat of new variants or other pathogens with even deadlier potential, WHO Director Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said recently at the World Health Assembly, calling on nations to be “ready to answer decisively, collectively, and equitably.”

Discussions about how to ensure equitable access to medical countermeasures during future pandemics are underway, as are negotiations of a wide-reaching treaty laying out new rules for dealing with pandemics. A draft document sent to member states and nongovernmental organizations this week included feedback from previous versions, as well as a clause calling on countries with greater “capacities and resources” to bear a “commensurate degree” of responsibility in global health threat preparedness and response efforts. Separately, discussions are underway to reform the 2005 International Health Regulations (IHR), which describe countries’ obligations during public health events that have the potential to cross borders. Both the pandemic treaty and IHR amendments are on track to be presented at next year’s World Health Assembly.

In related news, the co-chairs of the Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response and more than 15 scientists and public health experts called on G7 leaders to make specific commitments to pandemic preparedness and response at their summit in Hiroshima, Japan, last weekend. In their communique, the leaders committed to “further enhancing political momentum toward more coordinated and sustained leader-level governance for health emergency prevention, preparedness and response (PPR) that ensures legitimacy, representation, equity, and effectiveness,” and recognized the importance of the WHO pandemic negotiations to break the cycle of panic and neglect.

Additionally, efforts to track and anticipate the next outbreak from an unknown pathogen, sometimes referred to as Disease X, are ongoing. The WHO on May 20 launched the International Pathogen Surveillance Network (IPSN), a platform using technology to map out the genetic code of disease-causing organisms that will connect countries and regions with an aim of improving systems for collecting and analyzing samples. Though many countries scaled up their genomics capacity over the past 3 years, the IPSN will allow nations to more efficiently share data and use it to drive public health decision-making.

US debt ceiling negotiations consider takeback of unused COVID-19 emergency relief funds

The United States is rapidly approaching the date at which the government can no longer pay its bills, with Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen setting a fast-approaching June 1 deadline to avoid a potential debt default. Debt ceiling negotiations are zeroing in on several key issues, including remaining COVID-19 relief funds. The potential for the redistribution of unused COVID-19 emergency money is an item of contention between US House Democrats and Republicans. Though President Joe Biden has said he is willing to consider a takeback of the remaining funds, many congressional Democrats worry about the consequences such an action would have for public health initiatives the money is intended to support, including efforts to develop vaccines and therapeutics for future SARS-CoV-2 variants and to fortify medical supplies for the Strategic National Stockpile, among others. House Republicans argue that the remaining US$30 billion of the total US$4.6 trillion of pandemic-related funding should be put toward raising the nation’s debt limit because the COVID-19 pandemic emergency is over. While it seems likely that the Biden administration and House Democrats will cede some of the funding, the unspent COVID-19 funds are only a drop in the bucket, dwarfed by the more than US$31 trillion in debt the nation owes.

WHO advisory group recommends updating COVID-19 vaccines to include XBB subvariant; US FDA set to discuss vaccine composition in June

The WHO Technical Advisory Group on COVID-19 Vaccine Composition (TAG-CO-VAC) last week released new recommendations for updating the antigen composition of COVID-19 vaccines. Current vaccines based on the index SARS-CoV-2 virus offer broad protection against severe disease; however, experts are recommending that new vaccines tailored only to the Omicron XBB.1 subvariant, which is now the most commonly circulating strain, will improve durability and breadth of protection. Some COVID-19 vaccine producers, including Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, Novavax, and others, have already begun research and development on vaccines targeting currently circulating variants like XBB.1.

The US FDA is set to meet in mid-June to discuss next-generation vaccine composition and rollout ahead of cold and flu season in the fall. Using the influenza vaccination as a model for future COVID-19 vaccination strategies, the FDA will likely move toward recommending once-a-year COVID-19 boosters that are updated annually to match the most widespread circulating SARS-CoV-2 variant or variants. Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna are already innovating new approaches for their vaccines against COVID-19, including combination shots that could protect against multiple viral threats.

Pandemic worsened racial/ethnic disparities in health, highlighting need to confront structural inequities

Over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, racial disparities in cases and deaths have widened and narrowed, but overall, Black, Hispanic, and American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN) people in the US have borne the heaviest health impacts of the pandemic. New findings renew concerns over these disparities:

• Research from KFF released earlier this week found widening racial disparities in US life expectancy from 2019 to 2021, noting the trend was largely driven by COVID-19 mortality. Researchers said life expectancy declined 2.7 years overall, with decreases of 2.1 years for Asian people (85.6 to 83.5), 2.4 years for White people (78.8 to 76.4), 4 years (74.8 to 70.8) for Black people, 4.2 years (74.8 to 70.8) for Hispanic people, and 6.6 years (71.8 to 65.2) for AIAN people.

• A study published in JAMA last week examined excess deaths and years of potential life lost for the Black population of the US, compared to the White population, from 1999 to 2020. Researchers found that Black Americans have suffered 1.63 million excess deaths and more than 80 million years of potential life lost compared to White Americans. These disparities seemed to be improving until they stalled and then worsened in 2020. Heart disease was the leading cause of excess mortality.

• Black adults are more likely than White adults to suffer from high blood pressure (56% vs 48%, respectively) and less likely to have the condition under control with medication (25% vs 32%, respectively). This disparity, which is expected to worsen in the coming decades, further exacerbates COVID-19 racial disparities, as high blood pressure is listed as a contributing factor in 21.4% of COVID-related deaths among Black patients and 15.5% of COVID-related deaths among White patients.

With the end of the public health emergency in the US ushering in the termination of several policies implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic meant to help people access care, including continuous enrollment for Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), many fear these health disparities could widen even further. Federal, state, and local governments must work to raise awareness of health disparities and focus on implementing solutions that include confronting structural inequities affecting health insurance coverage and access to care, as well as other socioeconomic factors that impact health.

China experiencing new wave of COVID-19 cases due to XBB subvariants; authorities working to update vaccines

Chinese authorities are working to develop, approve, and distribute vaccines updated for the XBB subvariants, which are driving a new wave of COVID-19 cases. Authorities have approved 2 new vaccines for the subvariants, with the approvals of 3-4 more expected soon. The wave of new infections is expected to peak in June, with up to 65 million cases per week under the worst-case scenarios. China last faced a surge in cases over the 2022-23 winter after dropping its “zero COVID” policy, causing as much as 85% of the population to become infected. Although officials believe this wave will be less severe, public health experts are stressing the need for an aggressive vaccine booster program and ample antiviral supplies to prevent a spike in deaths, particularly among the elderly population. While some hospitals have advised precautions, and some concerts and other events have been canceled without explanation, most residents are continuing life as usual.

Research into new monoclonal antibody therapies moving forward but threatened by lack of long-term investments

Treatment with a monoclonal antibody (mAb) within 2 days of a COVID-19 diagnosis reduced the risk for hospitalization or death by almost 40%, according to one study. With the emergence of the Omicron variant, however, the US FDA withdrew the emergency use authorizations (EUAs) for 5 mAbs because they are ineffective due to mutations in SARS-CoV-2. Now, researchers are working to redesign antibody treatments to target parts of the virus that are less prone to mutation, Science reports. One approach involves creating antibody-like compounds that can bind to multiple sites on viral proteins simultaneously, making it harder for the virus to evade treatment. Other strategies include targeting conserved regions of the spike protein that have not changed among variants and modifying the structure of antibodies to enhance their potency.

But with the US emergency declaration expired, concerns over waning interest and lack of investment in research threaten the development of these new therapies. In April, President Biden’s administration launched a US$5 billion Project NextGen to help commercialize vaccines, mAbs, and other therapeutics, but that funding could fall victim in ongoing debt ceiling negotiations (see story above). What is clear is that long-term investments are needed for COVID-19 therapy research and development, especially for people who are immunocompromised, about 3% of the US population.

What we’re reading

ORIGIN INVESTIGATIONS The Atlantic looks at the state of current scientific investigations into the origin of SARS-CoV-2, including how prior beliefs can affect data interpretation and lead researchers into heated battles. All evidence and options remain on the table, however, “the world probably won’t ever get data that will conclusively end the debate.”

US FEDERAL PRISON RESPONSE In an analysis of nearly 1,500 pages of data, obtained through multiple Freedom of Information Act requests, STAT provides a detailed look at the US federal prison system’s COVID-19 response, finding many prisons implemented substandard mitigation measures throughout the pandemic, including facilities meant to take care of the sickest incarcerated people. The article highlights 4 shortcomings, such as delays in vaccinating high-risk residents, failures to provide widespread screening testing, a lack of reliable data from the Bureau of Prisons on testing activities, and low rates of vaccine booster administration among prison populations.

AFRICA’S TRUST Devex examines the structural and systemic issues that led to a further erosion of trust among African nations during the COVID-19 pandemic and how efforts moving forward might help improve that trust. The article features comments made by Dr. Ayoade Alakija, the WHO’s special envoy for the ACT-Accelerator, who spoke on the sidelines of the World Health Assembly.

WORLD HEALTH STATISTICS REPORT The COVID-19 pandemic is estimated to have resulted in nearly 15 million excess deaths in 2020 and 2021, with each resulting in an average loss of more than 22 years of life, or more than 330 million years of life lost globally, according to the WHO’s 2023 World Health Statistics report. Though global life expectancy increased from 67 years in 2000 to 73 years in 2019, progress against many global health indicators began to slow or stagnate beginning in 2015, prior to the pandemic. The pandemic set things back even further, however, overwhelming health systems and badly disrupting essential health services, the report notes. The WHO warned of the growing threats of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), air pollution, and antimicrobial resistance but also highlighted successes, such as reductions in exposure to many health risks—including tobacco use, violence, and unsafe water and sanitation—as well as declines in new HIV infections and HIV-related deaths. Global life expectancy at birth is projected to reach 77 years by 2048, according to the report.

CANINE OLFACTORY DETECTION A meta-analysis of 27 studies published in the Annals of Epidemiology adds to the evidence that dogs are able to detect SARS-CoV-2 in humans. According to the analysis, dogs have a high sensitivity of more than 80% and specificity of more than 90% in detecting SARS-CoV-2 in humans through scent. The studies tested dogs on their capacity to detect SARS-CoV-2 in various samples such as sweat, saliva, masks, and urine. In 6 studies with high-quality data, the sensitivity ranged from 82% to 97% and specificity from 83% to 100%. The researchers suggest that canine detection can be beneficial in public spaces and events, providing a relatively cost-effective testing strategy alongside other measures in controlling pandemics.

Epi update

As of May 24, the WHO COVID-19 Dashboard reports:

• 766.9 million cumulative COVID-19 cases
• 6.9 million deaths
• 434,032 confirmed cases reported week of May 15
• 24% decrease in global weekly incidence
• 1,977 deaths reported week of May 15
• 55% increase in global weekly mortality

Over the previous week, case incidence declined or remained relatively stable in all WHO regions. 

UNITED STATES

The US CDC is reporting:

• 1.13 million cumulative deaths
• 9,186 weekly COVID-19 hospital admissions (decrease of 4.9%)

The data for variant proportions have not changed since last week, as the CDC now updates only every other week. As of March 13, the Omicron sublineages XBB.1.5 (64%), XBB.1.16 (14%), XBB.1.9.1 (9%), XBB.1.9.2 (4%), XBB.2.3 (3.5%), XBB.1.5.1 (2.4%), and FD.2 (1.8%) accounted for a majority of all new sequenced specimens, with various other Omicron subvariants accounting for the remainder of cases.