Countermeasures
As Congress continues to grapple over the next COVID-19 relief package, more than two dozen senators wrote a letter to Senate leadership this week to request inclusion of $15.5 billion for the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Whatever form the final legislation takes, they reasoned, funds... Read More »
Legislation that would require the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP), the United States Marshals Service (USMS), and state governments to collect and report data about COVID-19 in correctional facilities was introduced in Congress.
Prisons and jails have become hotspots for the spread of COVID-19,... Read More »
The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) issued a report regarding the appointment of temporary and term personnel by the Department of Defense (DoD).
The (DoD) uses term and temporary appointments to hire personnel to non-permanent positions that have uncertain funding or workload. Term... Read More »
Three lawmakers have launched the Pandemic Preparedness Caucus, a coalition of lawmakers they said would work to advance policy solutions to challenges presented by COVID-19 and future public health emergencies.
Reps. Troy Balderson (R-OH) and Cindy Axne (D-IA) said the caucus would focus on... Read More »
Three lawmakers have introduced a measure designed to expand the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS’s) jurisdiction to review foreign investments in emerging and foundational technology.
Sens. Thom Tillis (R-NC), John Cornyn (R-TX), and Marco Rubio (R-FL) maintain the... Read More »
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is taking a new look at a severe complication of COVID-19 that affects a small percentage of children -- Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C) -- through the possibility of a $20 million award for research proposals.
“We urgently need... Read More »
Doubling down on the increasingly rocky relationship between the United States and China, U.S. Rep. Andy Barr (R-KY) introduced the Transparency in Chinese Government Investment Act last week, which would require any publicly traded companies to reveal connections with China’s governing... Read More »
Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), and Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) introduced a bill designed to help veterans who served at Karshi Khanabad (K2) Airbase in Uzbekistan to obtain the health screenings and services they need.
According to a U.S. Army study conducted in 2015, service... Read More »
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Department of Defense (DoD) struck a deal with the Janssen Pharmaceuticals, which is part of Johnson & Johnson, to demonstrate large-scale manufacturing and delivery of the company's COVID-19 vaccine candidate.
As part of the agreement,... Read More »
Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) and HIV Medicine Association (HIVMA) personnel have forwarded correspondence to the White House advocating nationwide mask requirements.
The organizations are urging issuance of a federal mask directive to curtail the spread of COVID-19, protect the... Read More »
The Department of Justice (DOJ) has earmarked $1 million to combat human trafficking in Alaska via the agency’s Housing Assistance Grants for Victims of Human Trafficking program.
Officials said Covenant House Alaska and the Alaska Housing Finance Corporation (AHFC) would receive $500,000 each... Read More »
A clinical trial dubbed I-SPY COVID enrolled its first patients last week, setting into motion plans to evaluate the efficacy of several COVID-19 therapeutics under the collaborative efforts of the COVID R&D Alliance, AbbVie, Inc., Amgen Inc., and Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd.
“I’m proud... Read More »
Reps. Frank Pallone Jr. (D-NJ) and Diana DeGette (D-CO) forwarded correspondence Wednesday to Trump administration officials regarding an updated national COVID-19 vaccine plan.
Pallone and DeGette recently sent a second oversight letter to White House Coronavirus Task Force Coordinator Dr.... Read More »
Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX) introduced this week a pair of bills he said are designed to further empower the nation’s strategic competition against the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
McCaul serves as Republican leader on the House Foreign Affairs Committee and Chairman of the China Task... Read More »
There are ways to conduct safe elections even during a pandemic like COVID-19, but despite lessons provided by recent primary elections, researchers from RAND warn that nine states have adopted no policies key to safe voter participation in the 2020 presidential election.
This lack of... Read More »
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) launched the Medical Imaging and Data Resource Center (MIDRC) this week, beginning a new effort to fight the COVID-19 pandemic through a mix of artificial intelligence-created tools and medical imaging.
MIDRC is a collaboration of multiple institutions,... Read More »
The Nuclear Threat Initiative’s NTI Index shows that only 47 percent of countries have a response plan in place for a cyberattack on a nuclear facility.
Further, NTI reveals that most of those nations do not have adequate regulations for cybersecurity. The NTI Index found that only 34 percent... Read More »
Battelle is providing a service to healthcare workers in Hawaii to sterilize personal protective equipment (PPE).
Any healthcare provider in the state qualifies for the free decontamination service. The masks are decontaminated through Battelle’s process, called the Critical Care... Read More »
The House Problem Solvers Caucus has endorsed the COVID Preparedness, Response, and Effective Planning for Advanced Requirements by the Executive Branch (PREPARE) Act, a bill introduced by Reps. John Katko (R-NY) and Brad Schneider (D-IL).
The Problem Solvers Caucus is a bipartisan group in... Read More »
U.S. Rep. Tom Graves (R-GA) sponsored or cosponsored several cybersecurity bills that were passed recently by the U.S. House of Representatives in various funding bills.
Graves worked to include a dozen cybersecurity related priorities in more than half of the 12 funding bills, which now move... Read More »
A group of lawmakers recently introduced a bill they said is designed to find an alternative to PFAS contaminated firefighting foam.
Reps. Madeleine Dean (D-PA), Mike Gallagher (R-WI), Andy Kim (D-NJ), Dan Kildee (D-MI) and Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA) said the PFAS Free Foam Research and... Read More »
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) and Department of Transportation (DOT) have initiated the Next Generation 911 (NG911) systems interoperability and compatibility testing process.
The agencies have selected the Critical Infrastructure Resilience... Read More »
As the White House and states tussle over mail-in voting, U.S. Rep. Don Young (R-AK) introduced a bill this week known as the Emergency Assistance for Safe Elections (EASE) Act, which proposes to ensure safety at the polls and accuracy in mail-in counts.
“The November election is fast... Read More »
Researchers from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) will lead a phase 2 clinical trial -- ACTIV-2 -- of experimental therapeutics, to see how an antibody-based treatment and others may fare against those with mild to moderate cases of COVID-19.
Mild to moderate, in... Read More »
Reps. Michael McCaul (R-TX) and Jim Langevin (D-RI) introduced this week a measure designed to streamline the information transfer on imminent violence threats, whether the intent is to harm oneself or others.
The Protecting America through Information Sharing Act empowers the Department of... Read More »
Raytheon Missiles & Defense officials said the firm has partnered with the Israeli-based defense technology company RAFAEL Advanced Defense Systems Ltd. to establish a domestic Iron Dome Weapon System production facility.
"This will be the first Iron Dome all-up-round facility outside of Israel,... Read More »
The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) maintains researchers have engineered antiviral compounds proven to kill several types of coronaviruses in both cells and mice.
The work has also proven effective against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. The compounds... Read More »
Rapid manufacturing and distribution of a COVID-19 vaccine will rank as one of the most challenging U.S. government initiatives ever undertaken, though it can successfully happen with aggressive planning, management, and funding, concludes a newly released report that includes a powerful indictment... Read More »
A study by the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) examined the effectiveness of government travel bans in Europe on slowing the spread of COVID-19.
The study found that international flight connections played a particularly important role in the early stages of the... Read More »
A team from The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston has found a Zika virus mutation that may be responsible for the outbreak that occurred in 2015 and 2016.
Mosquitoes primarily transmit the Zika virus. Because it circulates between mosquitoes and animals/humans, they are prone to... Read More »
The U.S. Department of the Air Force and Department of Defense are hosting a virtual event for cybersecurity professionals on securing space systems.
The Space Security Challenge 2020, which will run Aug. 7-9, features a mixture of virtual workshops and prize challenges along with a live... Read More »
The U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) Joint Program Executive Office for Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Defense (JPEO-CBRND) awarded Johns Hopkins researchers $35 million for clinical trials to test a convalescent blood plasma outpatient treatment to fight COVID-19.
The treatment... Read More »
Inovio, a biotechnology company, revealed that its COVID-19 vaccine candidate, INO-4800, was effective in protecting non-human primates, specifically rhesus macaques, from the virus 13 weeks after the last vaccination.
These results demonstrate that vaccine candidates reduced viral load in... Read More »
Findings from a Government Accountability Office (GAO) analysis requested by a pair of lawmakers determined nuclear weapons modernization costs will be larger than estimated unless programs are scaled or scrapped.
Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Edward J. Markey (D-MA) requested the GAO... Read More »
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has initiated new technology at John F. Kennedy International and LaGuardia Airports capable of validating traveler identification and confirming flight information in near real-time.
The TSA said JFK International Airport has 22 credential... Read More »
