Countermeasures
A group of lawmakers forwarded correspondence last week to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) personnel regarding southern border circumstances.
Rep. Jeff Duncan (R-SC) spearheaded the effort to address the agency's, citing reports of illegal... Read More »
While thankful for the support for system upgrades the newly introduced House LIFT America Act demonstrates, American 9-1-1 groups are concerned that elements of it could prove wasteful and delay and complicate deployment of a Next Generation 9-1-1 nationwide.
“The infrastructure bill is a... Read More »
Democrats on the House Energy and Commerce (E&C) Committee unveiled a sweeping, $312 billion bill known as the LIFT America Act last week that, among other things, would invest in America’s health infrastructure.
“As our nation combats COVID-19 and a severe economic downturn, the LIFT... Read More »
In a study funded by the Mayo Clinic and published in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases last week, researchers determined that after two doses of mRNA vaccines for COVID-19, asymptomatic patients are less likely to be infected and unknowingly spread the virus.
After two doses of mRNA... Read More »
The single-shot Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine will be available in more places worldwide now, thanks to a conditional marketing authorization granted by the European Commission and emergency use authorization from the World Health Organization (WHO).
The decisions followed similar approval... Read More »
U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), Chair of the Subcommittee on Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, wants the FBI to brief Congress on the infiltration of white supremacists in law enforcement.
In a letter to the FBI sent Wednesday, Raskin questioned why the FBI repeatedly told his subcommittee last... Read More »
Legislation introduced in the U.S. Senate this week by Sens. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) and Patty Murray (D-WA) seeks to strengthen the public health infrastructure and enhance the nation’s ability to respond to COVID-19 and other public health challenges.
The Public Health Infrastructure Saves... Read More »
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is espousing the benefits of an AEG 12 mosquito protein study authorities said could help develop treatments to combat life-threatening viruses.
Researchers at the NIH's National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) used X-ray crystallography... Read More »
A bipartisan group of lawmakers recently introduced a resolution condemning Iran's nuclear weapon pursuits.
Reps. Elaine Luria (D-VA), Kathy Manning (D-NC), Peter Meijer (R-MI), Kathleen Rice (D-NY), Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ), and Brad Schneider (D-IL) joined the resolution in the wake of Iran’s... Read More »
Sens. Tom Carper (D-DE), Chris Coons (D-DE), and John Cornyn (R-TX) reintroduced a bill designed to aid states in enforcing existing laws against individuals attempting to purchase firearms by lying on background checks.
The NICS Denial Notification Act would require federal authorities to... Read More »
A study focused on determining whether patients would benefit from a booster for the Moderna, Inc. COVID-19 vaccine has enrolled and dosed its first participants this week.
Moderna’s mRNA COVID-19 vaccine is currently in use across the U.S. and has shown high efficacy against the original... Read More »
Building on its efforts during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) has proposed a $3.5 billion plan to reduce or eliminate future pandemic and epidemic risk through preparedness investment over the next five years.
The organization has sought... Read More »
A professor from Johns Hopkins Center for Health and Security testified before the Maryland General Assembly on the certification of gene synthesis providers and manufacturers of gene synthesis equipment.
Dr. Gigi Gronvall -- senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security and... Read More »
Research and development company Battelle announced Tuesday that it had developed a microneutralization assay that uses live SARS-CoV-2 virus to analyze the neutralizing response against the virus in human serum samples.
The assay allows the company to test samples from vaccine clinical trials.... Read More »
Rep. Dave Joyce (R-OH) is among lawmakers encouraging the Biden administration to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapon capabilities.
Joyce joined other legislators in forwarding correspondence to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, focusing on three areas of concern: Iran’s nuclear... Read More »
A group of lawmakers introduced legislation designed to establish an Office of Intelligence within the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The Agricultural Intelligence Measures (AIM) Act was introduced by Reps. Rick Crawford (R-AR), Rick Allen (R-GA), Don Bacon (R-NE), Jim Baird (R-IN), Troy... Read More »
A group of lawmakers recently introduced the Significant Transnational Criminal Organization Designation Act, noting the legislation would subject foreign criminal organizations such as drug cartels to sanctions.
Sens. Ben Sasse (R-NE), Tom Cotton (R-AR), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), and Josh Hawley... Read More »
CARB-X could award up to $3.5 million, plus up to $18.5 million for successful development milestones, to Affinivax for a vaccine for Staphylococcus aureus bacterial infections, for which treatment options are currently limited.
No vaccine presently exists for S. aureus, despite the high threat... Read More »
The Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) and MediciNova, Inc. seek to use a new partnership to repurpose the anti-inflammatory MN-166, better known as ibudilast, for use against acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and chlorine exposure.
Traditionally, ibudilast... Read More »
The BioWatch Program, established by Congress in 2003, transferred to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction (CWMD) office in 2018 with a whopping budget averaging $76 million per fiscal year from 2018 to 2020.
According to BioWatch officials, the... Read More »
U.S. Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-NV) recently co-sponsored legislation to fund the Prevention and Public Health Fund (PPHF), which includes programs aimed and preventing and responding to pandemics.
The Public Health Funding Prevents Pandemics Act would ensure the PPHF, part of the Affordable Care Act,... Read More »
Valneva and Pfizer are getting set to launch a new Phase 2 study on VLA-15, their vaccine candidate for Lyme disease.
The study, VLA15-221, builds on previous positive Phase 2 studies. It incorporates new dose regimens and is anticipated to be the final Phase 2 study before deciding to progress... Read More »
A group of lawmakers recently introduced the Homeland and Cyber Threat (HACT) Act, which would hold foreign governments accountable for cyberattack damages.
Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), along with Colin Allred (D-TX), Jack Bergman (R-MI), Jaime Herrera Beutler (R-WA), Joe Neguse (D-CO), and... Read More »
Two research and development (R&D) awards have been earmarked by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for the newly launched Secure and Resilient Mobile Network Infrastructure (SRMNI) project.
The Agency's Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) and Cybersecurity and Infrastructure... Read More »
Dr. Rick Bright has been appointed the Rockefeller Foundation as senior vice president of Pandemic Prevention and Response, with responsibilities including leading pandemic prevention institute development.
“We are thrilled to have someone of Rick’s caliber join The Rockefeller... Read More »
According to a new report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the University of Utah, the costs of antibiotic resistance among diseases are growing, leading to billions of dollars in health care costs and increasing rates of infections.
According to “National... Read More »
A new deal reached between Baxter BioPharma Solutions and Moderna, Inc. this week will see Baxter handle fill/finish services for Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine in the United States, ultimately providing between 60-90 million doses this year.
Baxter’s Indiana facility will handle the... Read More »
According to the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF), the American Recovery and Rescue Act being voted on in Congress this week contains significant funding for fire and emergency medical personnel.
The act passed the U.S. House of Representatives in late February and passed the... Read More »
U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) officials said first responders now have access to the QuickRoute Mobile app, which aids with routing challenges.
“First responders now have a commercially-available navigational tool which takes into... Read More »
Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) officials indicated its recent Global Biosecurity Dialogue resulted in participants pledging to take 12 specific actions to advance global biosecurity along with eight jointly developed priority areas.
More than 170 government officials, health and biosecurity... Read More »
U.S. Reps. Randy Weber (R-TX) and Charlie Crist (D-FL) are espousing the benefits of establishing the Space & Aeronautics Caucus for the 117th Congress, noting the effort seeks to explore several important matters of policy.
Caucus endeavors would include domestic activities in low-Earth orbit... Read More »
Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers assigned to the International Mail Facility (IMF) at Chicago's O’Hare International Airport recently seized suspicious 3M N95 type masks with a 3M trademark.
Officers assigned to the Port of Chicago seized parcels arriving from Colombia. Personnel... Read More »
A molecular test for COVID-19 can now be used at home without a prescription, following the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) granting of emergency use authorization (EUA) to the Cue COVID-19 Test for Home and Over the Counter (OTC) Use.
A molecular nucleic acid amplification test... Read More »
The preliminary results of a Phase 2a randomized, double-blind trial of the Merck and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics-created oral antiviral for the treatment of COVID-19, molnupiravir, have shown the ability to quickly decrease the infectious virus among patients.
While full results are pending, this... Read More »
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas signed an Interim Final Rule (IFR) to publicize regulations regarding the Synthetics Trafficking and Overdose Prevention (STOP) Act.
The regulations will allow U.S. Customs and Border Protect (CPB) and the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) to strengthen... Read More »
