Countermeasures
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) said its partnership with Niceville, Florida-based DEFENSEWERX (DWX) would bolster Homeland Security solutions advancement efforts.
DWX is a nonprofit organization focusing on cultivating ecosystems enabling... Read More »
U.S. Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.) joined a bipartisan, bicameral group of Congress members in announcing the introduction of legislation that would improve hate crime reporting and expand assistance and resources for hate crime victims.
The Khalid Jabara and Heather Heyer National Opposition to... Read More »
A mix of casirivimab and imdevimab, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc.'s REGEN-COV, is now strongly recommended by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for high risk COVID-19 patients that are non-hospitalized.
The drug was given a strong rate based on randomized trials, which involved more than... Read More »
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the federal government’s nerve center for its COVID-19 pandemic response, would receive an additional $1.6 billion in funding over last year’s approved levels under President Joe Biden’s mammoth $1.5 trillion federal spending plan for... Read More »
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) announced that it is expanding a pilot test of technology that improves the cybersecurity defenses for the country’s emergency communications infrastructure.
In a news release issued on Thursday, S&T said... Read More »
Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials said a review of its March 2021 operational statistics showed a continued trend of increased encounters and arrests.
"We are committed to balancing the need to maintain border security, care for those in our custody and keep the American people and... Read More »
The U.S. Space Force recently finalized the Space Systems Command (SSC) organizational structure.
Command is slated to officially stand in summer 2021 once required conditions are met to re-designate the Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC) at Los Angeles Air Force Base, California, as SSC... Read More »
A bipartisan, bicameral response to rising hate crimes in the United States led to the introduction of the Khalid Jabara and Heather Heyer National Opposition to Hate, Assault, and Threats to Equality Act (Jabara-Heyer NO HATE Act) today.
The legislation would work to actively improve the... Read More »
The international COVAX facility has managed to deliver more than 38 million doses of various COVID-19 vaccine manufacturers to more than 100 economies within 42 days of its first international delivery to Ghana on Feb. 24, 2021.
It is a positive start for a massive global undertaking meant to... Read More »
New research from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) has found that the deactivating effects of heat and sunlight are consistent across different variants of the SARS-COV-2 virus – the virus that causes COVID-19.
In a report published in the... Read More »
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has earmarked $3 billion to 64 jurisdictions to bolster broad-based COVID-19 vaccine distribution, access, and administration efforts.
The funding allotment would support local efforts to increase vaccine uptake by expanding COVID-19 vaccine... Read More »
A group of lawmakers recently forwarded correspondence to President Joe Biden to encourage a reset if the approach towards Iran versus relinquishing sanctions leveraged over the regime.
Sens. Marco Rubio (R-FL), Jim Inhofe (R-OK), Pat Toomey (R-PA), and Todd Young (R-IN) sent the letter to... Read More »
Moderna, Inc. is trumpeting the interim results of a phase three trial of its COVID-19 vaccine, which have shown antibodies persisting for six months post-vaccination.
These results, published in The New England Journal of Medicine, come with some caveats, though. While the results were founded... Read More »
An assessment by the COVID-19 subcommittee of the World Health Organization (WHO) Global Advisory Committee on Vaccine Safety (GACVS) has concluded that blood clots affiliated with the AstraZeneca vaccine are concerning but rare and require further study to determine a causal relationship.
All... Read More »
U.S. Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Mark Warner (D-VA) joined a group of bipartisan Congress members to urge President Joe Biden to request at least $3 billion to fund the adoption of 5G alternatives to Chinese-made equipment.
In a letter to the Biden Administration on Monday, the Congress... Read More »
Bavarian Nordic received a new supply order from Janssen Pharmaceutica NV to manufacture and deliver bulk drug substance of MVA-BN Filo vaccine to treat Ebola.
The MVA-BN Filo vaccine will be licensed to Janssen as part of its Ebola vaccine regimen, Zabdeno and Mvabea, which the European... Read More »
The specialty vaccine company Valneva SE has issued positive data for Part A of the Phase 1/2 clinical trial of its inactivated, adjuvanted COVID-19 vaccine candidate VLA2001.
Officials noted subject to regulatory approval, the company plans to initiate a Phase 3 clinical trial by the end of... Read More »
Department of Justice officials said a man has been sentenced to 12 years in federal prison without parole for attempting to purchase a chemical weapon on the dark web.
Jason William Siesser, 46, of Columbia, Mo., pleaded guilty to one count of attempting to acquire a chemical weapon and one... Read More »
Moderna, Inc. is joining forces with Catalent, Inc. to create a high-speed vial filling line in Indiana that will aid the manufacture of its COVID-19 vaccine and, potentially, other items in Moderna’s clinical portfolio.
While Catalent -- a provider of advanced delivery technologies,... Read More »
The Symbiotica COVID-19 Self-Collected Antibody Test System gained emergency use authorization from the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) this week, making it the first antibody test authorized for use with self-collected dried blood spot samples.
The test allows those prescribed... Read More »
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) has earmarked funds to develop capabilities to monitor the current COVID-19 pandemic and other future biological events.
The agency has awarded $199,648 to Chapel Hill, North Carolina-based Mesur.io Inc. for... Read More »
Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) officials recently outlined the latest breakthrough regarding its Machine-assisted Analytic Rapid-repository System (MARS) initiative, touting efforts to provide strategic advantages.
The MARS initiative would aid military planners, senior leaders, and... Read More »
A new COVID-19 vaccine developed by the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR) began a phase one clinical trial this week, following positive preclinical showings against SARS-CoV-2, its variants, and SARS-CoV-1, as well.
"Even before recent COVID-19 variants were identified, our team... Read More »
U.S. Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), and Dick Durbin (D-IL) introduced a bill Monday aimed at combating straw purchasing and illegal trafficking in firearms to keep guns out of the hands of dangerous criminals.
The Stop Illegal Trafficking in Firearms Act would make it a... Read More »
Emergent BioSolutions Inc. reported this week that it is on schedule to meet all manufacturing commitments related to COVID-19 vaccines, and that the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) has increased its original task order by $23 million.
The funding injection from... Read More »
U.S. Reps. Henry Cuellar (D-TX) and John Katko (R-NY) introduced legislation Friday to address migrant surges at the border that would hold agencies accountable and prevent children from being held longer than they should.
The legislation, the Border Surge Response and Resilience Act, would... Read More »
Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) personnel have formed a task to address the illegal movement of firearms, ammunition, and explosives across the border.
The initiative serves as another step forward to disrupting and dismantling the violations,... Read More »
Alion Science and Technology has secured a $77 million Air Force agreement to provide aircraft and weapons systems research and development for the F-35 Lightning II Joint Program Office (JPO).
Officials indicated the task without order possesses a 60-month period of performance via the... Read More »
An ongoing Phase 2a trial of a Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies-developed COVID-19 vaccine candidate has been expanded to include adolescents between the ages of 12 and 17.
While there are still no approved COVID-19 vaccines for children, cases of COVID-19 in children have generally been less... Read More »
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is launching a new public education campaign to encourage people to get vaccinated against COVID-19 and increase confidence in the vaccines.
The department will create a nationwide network of trusted voices – local voices people know and... Read More »
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has initiated a COVID-19 mask design competition, with officials touting a total award of $500,000 available to winning entries.
“We know that properly and consistently worn face masks help reduce the spread of SARS-CoV-2 and other respiratory... Read More »
Reps. John Katko (R-NY) and Henry Cuellar (D-TX) introduced last week a measure designed to address potential southwest border surges.
The Border Surge Response and Resilience Act would require the Department of Homeland Security DHS and federal partners to establish a plan addressing border... Read More »
U.S. Rep. Nanette Diaz Barragán (D-CA) and U.S. Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Cory Booker (D-NJ) recently reintroduced the Federal Correctional Facilities COVID-19 Response Act to revise the prison system’s COVID-19 response.
“The COVID-19 outbreaks at federal prisons across the... Read More »
Although it already has a successful COVID-19 vaccine in circulation, Moderna is developing a vaccine designed to address the troubling South African variant of the disease (B.1.351), and as of last week, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) began a phase one trial to evaluate it.
Known as... Read More »
Homeland Security Investigations, a division of the Department of Justice, is warning U.S. citizens about a scam targeting vulnerable consumers with promises of gifts and cash in exchange for participating in fraudulent post-vaccination surveys.
The fraudulent surveys are used to illegally... Read More »
