Countermeasures
The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) bestowed emergency use authorization (EUA) to Roche’s COVID-19 at-home test last week, expanding over-the-counter options for those concerned about SARS-CoV-2 and its variants.
As a result, the test will now be available for self-use by... Read More »
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has launched an initiative to address potential machine learning (ML) model attacks.
The Guaranteeing AI Robustness against Deception (GARD) program seeks to work ahead of safety challenges by developing a new generation of defenses against... Read More »
A collection of West Coast-based senators wrote to the United States Geological Survey (USGS) last week in pursuit of its plans and funding needs regarding the nearly 70 percent completed West Coast Early Earthquake Warning System.
Recognizing that most of the way there is significantly... Read More »
The United States authorized the first two pill-based treatments for COVID-19 last week, with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granting emergency use authorization to both Pfizer Inc.’s paxlovid and Merck & Co. Inc.’s molnupiravir.
Taking the honor of first approval was paxlovid.... Read More »
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials said Air and Marine Operations (AMO) is in the final stages of upgrading and modernizing its marine vessel fleet.
The AMO contractually accepted its final 41-Foot SAFE Boat Coastal Interceptor Vessel (CIV) on Dec. 15. The vessel slated to arrive... Read More »
U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar (D-TX), called on the U.S. Department of Defense to take proactive steps that would ensure defense assets and installations are ready in the face of climate change.
In a letter sent to Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III,... Read More »
Rep. Kathy Castor (D-FL) commended the Department of the Air Force for selecting Tampa’s MacDill Air Force Base as the preferred location to host 24 KC-46s.
“I am thrilled that MacDill was chosen to be the new main operating base for 24 KC-46s Pegasus aircraft," Castor noted. "The patriotic... Read More »
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) is soliciting research proposals from entities for a broad range of 11 homeland security technology needs.
“A strength of the DHS SBIR program is that each year we can partner with innovative small businesses... Read More »
The Coalition of Epidemic Preparedness will award up to $50 million in expanded support to SK bioscience as the company pursues a variant-proof vaccine candidate for sarbecoviruses, a group of viruses from which SARS-CoV-2 emerged.
“The rapid spread of the Omicron variant serves as a stark... Read More »
State and local election officials recently participated in a Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA)-hosted forum to discuss cyber navigator programs.
Cyber navigators are state liaisons responsible for aiding under-resourced local jurisdictions in managing cyber risks, helping... Read More »
With stolen benefits from COVID-19 relief applications nearing $100 billion, Secret Service investigations of fraud at this scale are ramping up, and as part of those efforts, the agency this week appointed Assistant Special Agent in Charge Roy Dotson as National Pandemic Fraud Recovery... Read More »
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced Tuesday it would be launching a body camera pilot program for ICE law enforcement officers in pre-planned operations.
The use of body worn cameras, the agency said, will enhance ICE operations, including at-large arrests and searches, as... Read More »
Bipartisan legislation authored by U.S. Sens. Gary Peters (D-MI) and Rob Portman (R-OH) aimed at improving the federal workforce’s understanding of artificial intelligence (AI) passed the U.S. Senate on Monday.
The bill, Artificial Intelligence Training for the Acquisition Workforce Act, would... Read More »
In an effort to close health disparities brought to light and exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced this week that it has banded together with 15 digital health startups in the 2022 PandemicX Accelerator.
“PandemicX will... Read More »
The Department of Justice (DOJ) is awarding $1.6 billion in grants to support programs designed to reduce violent crime while strengthening communities.
“The Department of Justice is committed to supporting our state and local partners to combat crime across the country,” Attorney General... Read More »
In preliminary showings, a third dose of Moderna Inc’s COVID-19 vaccine increased antibody levels against the Omicron variant currently sweeping the world, painting the company’s strategy forward even as a years-long pandemic continues to evolve.
The report followed news that omicron, which... Read More »
A group of lawmakers have introduced a measure they said seeks to protect the domestic supply chain from foreign adversaries that include China and Russia.
Reps. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-NJ), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), and Victoria Spartz (R-IN) introduced the National Critical... Read More »
Marine Corps and Japan Ground Self-Defense Force (JGSDF) personnel recently conducted Resolute Dragon 21, the largest bilateral field training exercise, which was executed in Japan.
The exercise involved over 4,000 troops from 3d Marine Division, III Marine Expeditionary Force and the JGSDF’s... Read More »
Worried by rising COVID-19 variants and the threats of future pandemics, a collection of United States lawmakers last week dispatched a letter to the Senate and House Appropriations Committees asking for further funding in the Fiscal Year 2022 appropriations bill to support global... Read More »
BARDA’s Division of Research, Innovation, and Ventures (DRIVe) announced a new Area of Interest (AOI) and that it is looking for new partners to evaluate intervention strategies for acute respiratory distress.
The goal of the AOI is to improve long-term patient recovery after receiving... Read More »
California Gov. Gavin Newsom unveiled an enhanced public safety plan this week that looks to combat and prevent crime statewide.
The Real Public Safety Plan, in conjunction with local law enforcement, focuses on improving law enforcement response, ensuring prosecutors hold perpetrators... Read More »
The fight against COVID-19 earned another contender last week with the granting of an emergency use listing from the World Health Organization (WHO) to NVX-CoV2373, a vaccine created by Novavax and the first protein-based COVID-19 vaccine to earn that listing.
Better known as COVOVAX, as... Read More »
With a growing body of evidence that novel coronaviruses will continue to infect animals to afflict humans anew, top scientists from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have called for collaboration in pursuit of a universal coronavirus vaccine.
Drs. Anthony Fauci, Jeffery Taubenberger, and... Read More »
U.S. Rep. Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS), chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security, and U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) released a report Thursday from the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) on Federal Government disaster recovery programming and equitable outcomes.
The... Read More »
The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has revealed that criminal drug networks based in Mexico are mass-producing fentanyl and fentanyl-laced products for sale in the United States.
Fentanyl has been one of the major drivers of overdose deaths in recent years. Today, the DEA claims that... Read More »
A growing, immediate need exists to accelerate global coronavirus vaccination efforts to help ensure America’s continued economic recovery, experts testified during a Dec. 14 hearing held by the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis.
To date, nearly eight billion coronavirus... Read More »
Legislation from U.S. Sens. Gary Peters (D-MI), John Hoeven (R-ND), and Jacky Rosen (D-NV) that aims to revamp and reenergize the federal cybersecurity workforce passed a major hurdle this week after it won advancement through the Senate.
Reckoning with a world at times inseparable from its... Read More »
With recommendations from an independent Data Safety Monitoring Board (DSMB) and positive antibody and safety showings from preliminary studies, Sanofi and GSK announced this week that their COVID-19 vaccine booster candidate will continue its Phase 3 trial.
So far, the DSMB has identified no... Read More »
U.S. Sens. Rob Portman (R-OH) and Martin Heinrich (D-NM), co-founders of the Senate Artificial Intelligence Caucus, said two of their bipartisan bills addressing Artificial Intelligence and the U.S. government have passed as part of the FY 2022 National Defense Authorization Act.
The bills, the... Read More »
Among the many items nearing approval through the federal defense authorization bill this month is the National Guard’s FireGuard wildfire detection and tracking program in California.
The defense bill has been advanced by both the Senate and House and merely awaits the signature of President... Read More »
U.S. Sens. Roger Wicker (R-MS) and Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS) are touting the benefits of the Navy awarding a $70.8 million contract to Huntington Ingalls to purchase materials for construction of the LHA 9 ship, an America-class amphibious assault craft.
The ship will be built in Pascagoula,... Read More »
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) Screening at Speed Program announced Tuesday it had awarded more than $2.5 million to Vanderlande Industries to develop a passenger self-screening concept design and prototype to streamline TSA PreCheck... Read More »
The U.S Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said the recent launch of its Hack DHS bug bounty program represents an effort to identify potential agency cybersecurity vulnerabilities while increasing cybersecurity resilience.
“As the federal government’s cybersecurity quarterback, DHS... Read More »
With as many as 40 percent of medical device manufacturing facilities refusing to submit records when asked by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), U.S. Sens. Tammy Baldwin (D-IL) and Bill Cassidy (R-LA) have proposed a bill that would encourage compliance.
The requests were made between... Read More »
A new report released by the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security this week determined that the failure to incorporate primary care providers into the frontline response to COVID-19 and the larger public health system could have improved care, testing, and vaccination acceptance.
In... Read More »
