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At a virtual meeting on April 6, 2022, the United States Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRBPAC) will meet to address the future of COVID-19 vaccine booster doses and the process for selecting them for use against specific viral... Read More »
In a letter sent to Congressional leadership, the co-chairs of the COVID-19 Global Vaccination Caucus urged the inclusion of $5 billion in global COVID-19 response funding with any COVID-19 supplemental package.
This would shore up aid when USAID has said it will have fully obligated the funding... Read More »
In a study conducted on non-human primates, Soligenix, Inc.’s CiVax COVID-19 booster vaccine candidate produced increased neutralizing antibody responses to SARS-CoV-2 and its Delta Omicron variants.
The results, released last week, showed the heat-stable vaccine candidate generated as much... Read More »
A new solicitation issued by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) this week sought modern means of identifying and mitigating threats to so-called soft targets: sports venues, shopping complexes, schools, and more.
As a program, Securing... Read More »
A new attempt to strengthen the U.S. public health, medical preparedness, and response system will have its day in the Senate, after it was voted forward in a 20-2 vote by the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee.
The Prepare for and Respond to Existing Viruses, Emerging New... Read More »
U.S. Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), and Mike Rounds (R-SD) joined 19 colleagues in sending correspondence to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, seeking information regarding agency efforts to protect the nation from Russian... Read More »
The Senate advanced as part of the government funding legislation a provision from U.S. Sens. Gary Peters (D-MI) and Rob Portman (R-OH) that would require cyber attacks on critical infrastructure to be reported and further federal oversight.
Peters and Portman, chairman and ranking member of the... Read More »
In a new report released this week, the nonprofit Trust for America’s Health (TFAH) called out gaps in states’ emergency response capabilities and advocated for urgent investment in a new public health system.
The report, Ready or Not 2022: Protecting the Public’s Health from Diseases,... Read More »
In a move hailed by U.S. Rep. Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS), chairman of the Committee on Homeland Security, the bipartisan Omnibus Appropriations Agreement for FY 2022 now includes an increase of funding for the Nonprofit Security Grant Program to $250 million.
The funding, representing a 39... Read More »
The U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday night passed a $1.5 trillion omnibus spending measure that includes the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act, which now is reauthorized through 2027.
The larger legislation funding the government through September now heads back to the U.S. Senate, which... Read More »
According to the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), its effort to produce safe and effective vaccines within 100 days of an identified epidemic or pandemic threat has garnered $1.535 billion from world governments and organizations.
The 100 Days Mission is a five-year plan... Read More »
With the introduction of the DICTATOR Act to the House this week, U.S. Reps. Young Kim (R-CA) and Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) are pushing for investigations into whether the Chinese government is helping Russia evade international sanctions linked to its invasion of Ukraine.
While most nations agreed... Read More »
In the most recent update to its malaria guidelines, the World Health Organization (WHO) recommended that the vaccine RTS,S/AS01 be used to prevent P. falciparum malaria among children living in areas of moderate to high transmission.
This represents the first time a vaccine for malaria was... Read More »
The primary goal of the international COVID-19 Technology Access Pool (C-TAP) to facilitate access to COVID-19 health products received a major boost last week with an offer from the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) for several related technologies.
These offers would allow potential... Read More »
A new legislative package from U.S. Sens. Gary Peters (D-MI) and Rob Portman (R-OH) advanced through the Senate this week, setting up the House to consider revamps to public and private sector cybersecurity and the lingering question of governmental adoption of cloud technology.
The... Read More »
Faced with the ongoing, globally denounced Russian military invasion of Ukraine, a bipartisan collection of House lawmakers this week introduced the Ukraine Democracy Defense Lend-Lease Act of 2022 – legislation that would make it easier to ship military equipment for Ukraine’s use.
The bill... Read More »
Reckoning with a world still navigating a pandemic and the changing diplomatic realities a war in Ukraine has wrought, United States Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) this week called for increased COVID-19 aid abroad to counter Russian and Chinese influence.
“As Russian tanks roll into Ukraine... Read More »
Five senators, led by U.S. Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI), are urging Senate leadership to support additional funding for Department of Homeland Security (DHS) efforts to boost security at U.S. ports of entry and improve its ability to detect and seize drugs.
Peters, chairman of the Homeland Security... Read More »
The beginnings of the COVID-19 pandemic were a fraught time for the medical supply chain, but a new report from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) notes that significant gains were made by the United States health supply chain and industrial base over the last year.
“The... Read More »
Three men pleaded guilty this week after seeking to provide material support to domestic terrorists in an attempt to destroy energy facilities throughout the United States.
These charges were handed out to Christopher Brenner Cook, 20, of Columbus, Ohio; Jonathan Allen Frost, 24, of West... Read More »
Following an endorsement from the independent Data and Safety Monitoring Board this week, Moderna, Inc. officially began the third phase of trials for its mRNA Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSC) vaccine candidate this week.
The safety greenlight was based on preliminary Phase 2 safety and... Read More »
Seeking to close a gap separating state, county, and municipal firefighters from federal firefighters, the Federal Firefighter Fairness Act of 2021 (HR 2499) is a bipartisan push to grant access to federal, job-related disability and retirement benefits for injuries and diseases contracted in the... Read More »
Seven senators last week urged the Biden administration to outline plans to develop more durable COVID-19 vaccines following a year of emerging variants that have tested the efficacy of current treatments.
Led by U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA), a member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and... Read More »
With worries of a Russian incursion into Ukraine ongoing, U.S. Reps. Marc Veasey (D-TX), Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL), and Mike Turner (R-OH) today introduce the Supplying Ukraine with Provisions to Protect against Ongoing Russian Threats (SUPPORT) Act to guarantee support to the latter.
For the... Read More »
Lessons from one disaster can provide insights into the next and maybe even help prevent them – an idea carried forward in a new paper on COVID-19 commissioned by the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) and written by retired Major Gen. Julie Bentz.
In the paper, Bentz – a former major general... Read More »
The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted breakthrough therapy designation to a Bavarian Nordic A/S vaccine candidate known as MVA-BN RSV this week, setting the preventative for RSV up for a hastened review and development cycle.
The vaccine’s focus, known as respiratory... Read More »
While monoclonal antibodies have made headway in some countries more than others, the World Health Organization (WHO), for the first time last week, offered prequalification to Roche’s tocilizumab treatment, smoothing the path to more widespread approval.
Prequalification guarantees that the... Read More »
With the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 now dominating the pandemic’s reach, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has sought ways to halt its effects, and as part of this effort, last week purchased 600,000 courses of a new monoclonal antibody.
This antibody, known as... Read More »
Years into a global pandemic, the Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator and affiliated world leaders have called for fair, shared-based financing of approximately $23 billion in 2022 to overcome inequalities in medical access, scale-up countermeasure efforts, and end the COVID-19... Read More »
This week, U.S. Sens. Rob Portman (R-OH) and Gary Peters (D-MI) introduced a legislative package known as the Strengthening American Cybersecurity Act that proposes new requirements for private owners and federal agencies alike to address cybersecurity.
“It is clear that, as our nation... Read More »
According to the latest National Terrorism Advisory System (NTAS) Bulletin from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), threat levels throughout the country remain heightened due to mis-, dis-, and mal-information, stoked by foreign and domestic sources.
While much focus has been paid to... Read More »
The America COMPETES Act (H.R. 4521) from U.S. Reps. Diana DeGette (D-CO) and Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), advanced last week by the House, proposes increased domestic competitiveness and oversight through greater maintenance and inspection of the Strategic National Stockpile (SNS).
“If there’s... Read More »
A combined legislative effort from U.S. Sens. Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Chris Coons (D-DE) brought the Agility in Manufacturing Preparedness Act (S.3553) to the Senate this week, offering a proposal of how to improve domestic biopharmaceutical manufacturing capabilities for public health... Read More »
The U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) released a new Pandemic Preparedness Plan this week, directing its research efforts toward identifying pathogens with potential for significant spread among humans and those already known to be major threats.
Informed by a... Read More »
In introducing the Active Shooter Alert Act (H.R.6538) to the House this week, U.S. Reps. David Cicilline (D-RI) and Fred Upton (R-MI) proposed creating a system similar to the AMBER Alert system for law enforcement to use in notifying the public of active, local gun violence.
AMBER Alerts are... Read More »
