194
Pesticides, Organic Contaminants, and Pathogens in Air
against sepsis (a runaway immune response) caused by bacterial infections.
Reiersen and coworkers hypothesized the drug could be used as an early
treatment for those testing positive for COVID-19 to prevent severe systems
caused by the immune system (Alfonsi, 2021; Kabani, 2021).
11.2.2 Vaccines for COVID-19
As of this writing, there are at least 89 vaccine candidates under development and 2 approved for full use in the United States, the European Union,
and other places. The leading vaccines as of March 16, 2021 are reported in
Table 11.1 (source: NYTimes Coronavirus vaccine tracker (Zimmer et al.,
2020)).
11.2.3 New Variants of COVID-19
Despite the unprecedented speed at which vaccines have been developed for
COVID-19, they are being rolled out painfully slow and there are widespread
shortages. The longer it takes to slow the spread and reach herd immunity,
the more risk there is of new variants of the virus to develop and spread. New
variants are complicating the current situation, and vaccine developers are
rushing to evaluate the effcacy of vaccines against new variants. According
to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC), as of January 15, 2021, it is not
known how widely these variants have spread, how the disease differs from
older strains, and effcacy of the current therapies and vaccines:
• B.1.1.7: First detected in the United Kingdom (UK) on September 20,
2020, it had key mutations including deletion of H69/V70; deletion
of Y144; and mutation of N501Y, A570D, and P681H. It has increased
transmissibility and possible increased risk of hospitalization, severity, and mortality. Currently approved vaccines may have lower
effcacy with this strain: Moderna, Pfzer-BioNTech had reduced
neutralizing activity (i.e., lower levels of functional systemic antibodies to prevent infectivity of the virus), but the impact on protection
against the disease is not currently known. The Oxford-AstraZeneca
vaccine had limited effcacy against mild–moderate COVID-19.
A small sample size indicated substantially lower neutralization
against this strain relative to the original strain. It has been reported
in 58 different countries. As of March 11, 2021, 4,690 cases have been
reported in 50 jurisdictions in the United States (CDC, 2020).
• B.1.351: First detected in South Africa in early August of 2020 had
key mutations including deletion of L242/A243/L244, and mutation of K417N, E484K, and N501Y. It has increased transmissibility,
but no known impacts on severity. It potentially has higher risk for
reinfection. It does not appear to impact the effcacy of Moderna,
Pesticides, Organic Contaminants, and Pathogens in Air
against sepsis (a runaway immune response) caused by bacterial infections.
Reiersen and coworkers hypothesized the drug could be used as an early
treatment for those testing positive for COVID-19 to prevent severe systems
caused by the immune system (Alfonsi, 2021; Kabani, 2021).
11.2.2 Vaccines for COVID-19
As of this writing, there are at least 89 vaccine candidates under development and 2 approved for full use in the United States, the European Union,
and other places. The leading vaccines as of March 16, 2021 are reported in
Table 11.1 (source: NYTimes Coronavirus vaccine tracker (Zimmer et al.,
2020)).
11.2.3 New Variants of COVID-19
Despite the unprecedented speed at which vaccines have been developed for
COVID-19, they are being rolled out painfully slow and there are widespread
shortages. The longer it takes to slow the spread and reach herd immunity,
the more risk there is of new variants of the virus to develop and spread. New
variants are complicating the current situation, and vaccine developers are
rushing to evaluate the effcacy of vaccines against new variants. According
to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC), as of January 15, 2021, it is not
known how widely these variants have spread, how the disease differs from
older strains, and effcacy of the current therapies and vaccines:
• B.1.1.7: First detected in the United Kingdom (UK) on September 20,
2020, it had key mutations including deletion of H69/V70; deletion
of Y144; and mutation of N501Y, A570D, and P681H. It has increased
transmissibility and possible increased risk of hospitalization, severity, and mortality. Currently approved vaccines may have lower
effcacy with this strain: Moderna, Pfzer-BioNTech had reduced
neutralizing activity (i.e., lower levels of functional systemic antibodies to prevent infectivity of the virus), but the impact on protection
against the disease is not currently known. The Oxford-AstraZeneca
vaccine had limited effcacy against mild–moderate COVID-19.
A small sample size indicated substantially lower neutralization
against this strain relative to the original strain. It has been reported
in 58 different countries. As of March 11, 2021, 4,690 cases have been
reported in 50 jurisdictions in the United States (CDC, 2020).
• B.1.351: First detected in South Africa in early August of 2020 had
key mutations including deletion of L242/A243/L244, and mutation of K417N, E484K, and N501Y. It has increased transmissibility,
but no known impacts on severity. It potentially has higher risk for
reinfection. It does not appear to impact the effcacy of Moderna,