Marines, Navy execute Pacific tactical training
Marines and Navy personnel are espousing the benefits of the service branches recently completing joint Pacific tactical training exercises off the coast of Okinawa, Japan. The 1st Marine Aircraft Wing and the Navy's 7th Fleet simulated strikes on naval targets. Over six days, the participating... Read More »
Moderna announces booster candidate for Omicron COVID-19 variant and highlights ongoing studies
Moderna announced last week a strategy for addressing the new Omicron variant of COVID-19, including a new booster vaccine and studies of boosters that have already anticipated its mutations. The rushed strategy announcement came in the wake of closing borders and the World Health... Read More »
Defense Department receives World R&D 100 Award
Department of Defense (DoD) officials said the agency's Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering has earned R&D World R&D 100 Award honors. The DoD indicated the recognition within the Software/Services category stems from the development and implementation of the... Read More »
Bolster R&D for improved pandemic preparedness and response, say experts
Federal agencies, Congress and the White House must jointly foster improved research and development for pandemic preparedness and response, experts said during a recent webinar hosted by the Capitol Hill Steering Committee on Pandemic Preparedness & Health Security. “Over the last two... Read More »
WHO, MPP finalize agreement with Spanish National Research Council for first non-exclusive COVID-19 antibody test
The World Health Organization (WHO) COVID-19 Technology Access Pool (C-TAP) and the Medicines Patent Pool (MPP) recently reached a joint licensing agreement with the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) for a non-exclusive COVID-19 serological antibody test. The CSIC-developed test, to be... Read More »
Maryland Gov. Hogan details Baltimore violent crime response
Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan announced a series of initiatives he said seek to address violent crime in Baltimore City amid the city exceeding 300 homicides for the seventh consecutive year. "People are being shot nearly every single day in Baltimore City, and we all have an obligation to do... Read More »
NTI | bio report recommends strengthened international systems for pandemic assessment, response and risk reduction
In facing down a future of potential biological dangers, a new report from authors at NTI | bio recommended concrete action at the national and international level, from new oversight agencies to process overhauls and funding, to improve prevention and response. In “Strengthening Global... Read More »
Officials applaud $4.2M in law enforcement grants
U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-NJ) recently joined first responders in recognizing a pair of achievements they said would aid police and fire personnel. The group celebrated the signing into law of Pascrell’s Protecting America’s First Responders Act of 2021 (PAFRA), a measure that improves... Read More »
Report: Progress still needed on health equity in Month 11 of COVID-19 vaccination
A new report from the CommuniVax Coalition has found that while progress has been made regarding equity in the COVID-19 vaccination campaign, more work is needed. Led by the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security at the Bloomberg School of Public Health and the Department of Anthropology at... Read More »
CEPI to expand COVID-19 vaccine testing network to assess countermeasures to other epidemic threats
Building on the success of its COVID-10 vaccine testing network to date, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) announced this week that it will expand its centralized testing capabilities to the development of vaccines for other epidemic and pandemic diseases. CEPI’s... Read More »
CISA, FBI encourage critical infrastructure protection vigilance CISA, FBI encourage critical infrastructure protection vigilance
Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and FBI officials said the agencies are encouraging Americans to be aware of critical infrastructure security during the holiday season. Efforts are being intensified to disrupt the critical networks and systems belonging to organizations,... Read More »
Rep. Carter introduces bill to protect U.S. southern border
On Monday, U.S. Rep. Earl L. “Buddy” Carter (R-GA) introduced a bill to secure the U.S. southern border. The Build Better Borders Act of 2021 would increase civil monetary penalties for illegally crossing the border to $450,000. It stipulates that funds collected from those fines be... Read More »
Lawmakers express National Security Council nuclear policy concerns
A group of lawmakers recently forwarded correspondence to the National Security Council to express concerns regarding nuclear policy. U.S. Sens. Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Jim Inhofe (R-OK) joined U.S. Reps. Mike Rogers (R-AL), Michael McCaul (R-TX), and Devin Nunes (R-CA) in sending the letter to... Read More »
Public health worker recruitment major focus of Senate’s new BIO Preparedness Workforce Act
With COVID-19 daily emphasizing how critical health care workers are to modern society, a collection of U.S. senators this week proposed a student loan repayment program to drive recruitment and retention in the field of public health. The BIO Preparedness Workforce Act was introduced by U.S.... Read More »