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<h1 data-aos="fade-down" id="covid-19-sentry">Covid-19 Sentry</h1>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" data-aos-anchor-placement="top-bottom" id="contents">Contents</h1>
<ul>
<li><a href="#from-preprints">From Preprints</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-clinical-trials">From Clinical Trials</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-pubmed">From PubMed</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-patent-search">From Patent Search</a></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-preprints">From Preprints</h1>
<ul>
<li><strong>Evaluating Vaccine Efficacy Against SARS-CoV-2 Infection</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Although interim results from several large placebo-controlled phase 3 trials demonstrated high vaccine efficacy (VE) against symptomatic COVID-19, it is unknown how effective the vaccines are in preventing people from becoming asymptomatically infected and potentially spreading the virus unwittingly. It is more difficult to evaluate VE against SARS-CoV-2 infection than against symptomatic COVID-19 because infection is not observed directly but rather is known to occur between two antibody or RT-PCR tests. Additional challenges arise as community transmission changes over time and as participants are vaccinated on different dates because of staggered enrollment or crossover before the end of the study. Here, we provide valid and efficient statistical methods for estimating potentially waning VE against SARS-CoV-2 infection with blood or nasal samples under time-varying community transmission, staggered enrollment, and blinded or unblinded crossover. We demonstrate the usefulness of the proposed methods through numerical studies mimicking the BNT162b2 phase 3 trial and the Prevent COVID U study. In addition, we assess how crossover and the frequency of diagnostic tests affect the precision of VE estimates.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.04.16.21255614v1" target="_blank">Evaluating Vaccine Efficacy Against SARS-CoV-2 Infection</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Using rapid (point-of-care) tests for COVID-19: A decision analysis comparing the expected benefit of two screening strategies</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Background : Rapid tests for COVID-19 could be used to augment the otherwise limited laboratory-based testing capacity, but there are concerns that their utility may be compromised by their limited accuracy. The objective of this article is to compare the expected benefit (EB) of two screening strategies, one with rapid tests (SwRT) and another one without rapid tests (Sw ̅RT). Methods : We performed a decision analysis, with the overall EB defined as the proportion of correctly identified individuals minus the proportion of incorrectly identified individuals. Accordingly, the SwRT strategy will be deemed a better screening strategy if its lesser EB for COVID-19 free individuals is more than compensated by its greater EB for COVID-19 individuals. Otherwise, it will not. Results : As expected, the EB for COVID-19 individuals was greater for the SwRT strategy, with a far superior ability to rule out the presence of COVID-19. In fact, under the scenario of interest (i.e., 8000 ID Now rapid tests in addition to 28185 lab-based RT-PCR tests), it identified almost 16% more COVID-19 individuals than the Sw ̅RT strategy. In addition, the EB for COVID-19 free individuals was the same for both strategies, with a perfect ability at ruling in the presence of COVID-19. Conclusion : The SwRT strategy identified more COVID-19 individuals and this gain was not obtained at the detriment of COVID-19 free individuals who were equally well identified by both strategies. Hence, the SwRT strategy is a better screening strategy for COVID-19. It represents an opportunity to curtail the spread of SARS-CoV-2 that we may not afford to miss with new more contagious variants becoming more and more common in Canada.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.04.15.21255569v1" target="_blank">Using rapid (point-of-care) tests for COVID-19: A decision analysis comparing the expected benefit of two screening strategies</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Declines in life expectancy following the COVID-19 pandemic in provinces of Spain</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted population health on a global scale. Most of the studies on mortality impacts are at national level, while broad evidence exists on heterogeneous COVID-19 incidence across regions and within countries. Using Spanish data for 2020, we estimate life expectancy changes in 2020 compared with the 2017-19 period in 50 Spanish provinces. We visualize longer-term trends (1990-2020), and compare the robustness of our province-specific results with cumulative COVID-19 incidence using regional data from the Spanish ENECOVID seroprevalence study. In 2020 there was a 1.2 and 1.1 year drop in life expectancy for men and women in Spain, but this impact was heterogeneous across regions. For men these losses were highest in the province of Segovia (-3.5 years decline), while for women the highest drop was observed in Salamanca (-2.8 years decline). Life expectancy actually increased in Santa Cruz de Tenerife (+1.1 and +0.6 years for men and women, respectively). Declines in life expectancy in 2020 were also highly correlated with the cumulative seroprevalence through November 2020 (ρ=0.80 and 0.77 in men and women, respectively). Monitoring regional life expectancy dynamics provide valuable and granular information on the heterogeneous impacts of the pandemic on health at the population level. Similar exercises in other European countries may reveal insightful geographic patterns in mortality impacts in COVID-19 pandemic years.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.04.15.21255545v1" target="_blank">Declines in life expectancy following the COVID-19 pandemic in provinces of Spain</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Characterizing the incidence of adverse events of special interest for COVID-19 vaccines across eight countries: a multinational network cohort study</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
As large-scale immunization programs against COVID-19 proceed around the world, safety signals will emerge that need rapid evaluation.1,2 We report population-based, age- and sex-specific background incidence rates of potential adverse events of special interest (AESI) in eight countries using thirteen databases. This multi-national network cohort study included eight electronic medical record and five administrative claims databases from Australia, France, Germany, Japan, Netherlands, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States, mapped to a common data model. People observed for at least 365 days before 1 January 2017, 2018, or 2019 were included. We based study outcomes on lists published by regulators: acute myocardial infarction, anaphylaxis, appendicitis, Bell s palsy, deep vein thrombosis, disseminated intravascular coagulation, encephalomyelitis, Guillain-Barre syndrome, hemorrhagic and non-hemorrhagic stroke, immune thrombocytopenia, myocarditis/pericarditis, narcolepsy, pulmonary embolism, and transverse myelitis.3 We calculated incidence rates stratified by age, sex, and database. We pooled rates across databases using random effects meta-analyses. We classified meta-analytic estimates into Council of International Organizations of Medical Sciences categories: very common, common, uncommon, rare, or very rare.4 We analyzed 126,661,070 people. Rates varied greatly between databases and by age and sex. Some AESI (e.g., myocardial infarction, Guillain-Barre syndrome) increased with age, while others (e.g., anaphylaxis, appendicitis) were more common in young people. As a result, AESI were classified differently according to age. For example, myocardial infarction was very rare in children, rare in women aged 35-54 years, uncommon in men and women aged 55-84 years, and common in those aged ≥85 years. We report robust baseline rates of prioritized AESI across 13 databases. Age, sex, and variation between databases should be considered if background AESI rates are compared to event rates observed with COVID-19 vaccines.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.03.25.21254315v3" target="_blank">Characterizing the incidence of adverse events of special interest for COVID-19 vaccines across eight countries: a multinational network cohort study</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Robust immune responses after one dose of BNT162b2 mRNA vaccine dose in SARS-CoV-2 experienced individuals</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
The use of COVID-19 vaccines will play a major role in helping to end the pandemic that has killed millions worldwide. COVID-19 vaccine candidates have resulted in robust humoral responses and protective efficacy in human trials, but efficacy trials excluded individuals with prior diagnosis of COVID-19. As a result, little is known about how immune responses induced by mRNA vaccine candidates differ in individuals who recovered from COVID-19. Here, we evaluated longitudinal immune responses to two-dose BNT162b2 mRNA vaccination in 13 adults who recovered from COVID-19, compared to 19 adults who did not have prior COVID-19 diagnosis. Consistent with prior studies of mRNA vaccines, we observed robust cytotoxic CD8 T cell responses in both cohorts. Furthermore, SARS-CoV-2-naive individuals had progressive increases in humoral and antigen-specific antibody-secreting cell (ASC) responses following each dose of vaccine, whereas SARS-CoV-2-experienced individuals demonstrated strong humoral and antigen-specific ASC responses to the first dose but muted responses to the second dose of the vaccine for the time points studied. Together, these data highlight the relevance of immunological history for understanding vaccine immune responses and may have significant implications for personalizing mRNA vaccination regimens used to prevent COVID-19.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.02.07.21251311v2" target="_blank">Robust immune responses after one dose of BNT162b2 mRNA vaccine dose in SARS-CoV-2 experienced individuals</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>The influence of COVID-19-specific health risk beliefs on the motivation to quit smoking</strong> -
<div>
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, some smokers have experienced increased motivation to quit smoking, due to the higher risk of severe COVID-19 infection. However, this is not found across all smokers, and the motivation to quit appears dependent upon factors such as fear of COVID-19 and perceived risk from COVID-19. In the current investigation, specific COVID-19 risk beliefs were measured to isolate which beliefs predicted the motivation to quit smoking, these being the perceived severity of COVID-19 and perceived probability of COVID-19 infection. UK based smokers (N = 243) completed an online survey between September and October 2020, in which they reported their current motivation to quit smoking, fear of COVID-19, and their beliefs about how severe COVID-19 infection would be and how probable COVID-19 infection was. The only significant predictor of the motivation to quit smoking was the perceived probability of COVID-19 infection. This positive relationship remained when controlling for the general perceived probability and severity of other smoking related health conditions, suggesting a COVID-19-specific effect. Further, fear of COVID-19 only indirectly related to an increase in motivation to quit, when mediated through perceived probability of COVID-19 infection. The result places the perceived probability of COVID-19 infection as a central predictor of motivation to quit during the pandemic. Based on this evidence, messaging to smokers aiming to facilitate smoking cessation during the pandemic should focus on the highly contagious nature of the virus, to increase the motivation to quit.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://psyarxiv.com/3csuh/" target="_blank">The influence of COVID-19-specific health risk beliefs on the motivation to quit smoking</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>SARS-CoV-2 Sequence Characteristics of COVID-19 Persistence and Reinfection</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Background. Both SARS-CoV-2 reinfection and persistent infection have been reported, but sequence characteristics in these scenarios have not been described. We assessed published cases of SARS-CoV-2 reinfection and persistence, characterizing the hallmarks of reinfecting sequences and the rate of viral evolution in persistent infection. Methods. A systematic review of PubMed was conducted to identify cases of SARS-CoV-2 reinfection and persistence with available sequences. Nucleotide and amino acid changes in the reinfecting sequence were compared to both the initial and contemporaneous community variants. Time-measured phylogenetic reconstruction was performed to compare intra-host viral evolution in persistent SARS-CoV-2 to community-driven evolution. Results. Twenty reinfection and nine persistent infection cases were identified. Reports of reinfection cases spanned a broad distribution of ages, baseline health status, reinfection severity, and occurred as early as 1.5 months or &gt;8 months after the initial infection. The reinfecting viral sequences had a median of 17.5 nucleotide changes with enrichment in the ORF8 and N genes. The number of changes did not differ by the severity of reinfection and reinfecting variants were similar to the contemporaneous sequences circulating in the community. Patients with persistent COVID-19 demonstrated more rapid accumulation of sequence changes than seen with community-driven evolution with continued evolution during convalescent plasma or monoclonal antibody treatment. Conclusions. Reinfecting SARS-CoV-2 viral genomes largely mirror contemporaneous circulating sequences in that geographic region, while persistent COVID-19 has been largely described in immunosuppressed individuals and is associated with accelerated viral evolution.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.03.02.21252750v2" target="_blank">SARS-CoV-2 Sequence Characteristics of COVID-19 Persistence and Reinfection</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Effect Monitoring and Insights from Vaccination program of Healthcare Workforce from a tertiary level hospital in India against SARS-CoV-2.</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
The Oxford-Astra Zeneca COVID 19 vaccine (AZD1222 or ChAdOx1) is locally manufactured as Covishield by Serum Institute, Pune, India. In a group of 307 healthcare workers administered Covishield, we report measured antibody response to SARS-CoV-2 directed against the spike protein (S-antigen) at days 0, 7, 14, 28 and 45, with second dose on day 28 for all except 20 subjects who did not receive a second dose. In 129 subjects (42%) who had already developed antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 at day 0 (before immunization), it was observed that antibody response was significantly higher at each time point, with the maximum increase seen between days 0 and 7. The antibody levels and neutralizing activity in these subjects had peaked by day 28 and the second dose did not lead to further increase. Data from 9 subjects who were seropositive at baseline and received only one dose was similar to those who received both doses. In contrast the baseline sero-negative group (n=178) started developing antibody response only after 14 days or later. Administration of the second dose was associated with further increase in antibody levels at day 45 compared to day 28, with marked increase in neutralizing activity. In baseline seronegative subjects, who did not take the vaccine at day 28 (n=11), the antibody levels increased by about 2.5 folds between days 28 and 45, with minimal change in the neutralizing antibodies. In general, vaccination was well tolerated, and there were no group specific differences in post-vaccination symptomatology. Our data suggests that ChAdOx1 is highly immunogenic, particularly so where previous SARS CoV2 antibody-response is established. In such subjects, a single dose may be sufficient but in absence of such determination, both doses are required.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.02.28.21252621v2" target="_blank">Effect Monitoring and Insights from Vaccination program of Healthcare Workforce from a tertiary level hospital in India against SARS-CoV-2.</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>The importance of non-pharmaceutical interventions during the COVID-19 vaccine rollout</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
The promise of efficacious vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 is fulfilled and vaccination campaigns have started worldwide. However, the fight against the pandemic is far from over. Here, we propose an age-structured compartmental model to study the interplay of disease transmission, vaccines rollout, and behavioural dynamics. We investigate, via in-silico simulations, individual and societal behavioural changes, possibly induced by the start of the vaccination campaigns, and manifested as a relaxation in the adoption of non-pharmaceutical interventions. We explore different vaccine efficacy, vaccination rollout speeds, prioritization strategies, as well as multiple behavioural responses. We apply our model to six countries worldwide (Egypt, Peru, Serbia, Ukraine, Canada, and Italy) selected to sample diverse socio-demographic and socio-economic contexts. To isolate the effects of age-structures and contacts patterns from the particular pandemic history of each location, we first study the model considering the same hypothetical initial epidemic scenario in all countries. We then calibrate the model using real epidemiological and mobility data for the different countries. Our findings suggest that early relaxation of safe behaviours can jeopardize the benefits brought by the vaccine in the short term: a fast vaccine distribution and policies aimed at keeping high compliance of individual safe behaviours are key to mitigate disease resurgence.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.01.09.21249480v2" target="_blank">The importance of non-pharmaceutical interventions during the COVID-19 vaccine rollout</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Antibody Cocktail Exhibits Broad Neutralization against SARS-CoV-2 and SARS-CoV-2 variants</strong> -
<div>
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has precipitated multiple variants resistant to therapeutic antibodies. In this study, 12 high-affinity antibodies were generated from convalescent donors in early outbreaks using immune antibody phage display libraries. Of them, two RBD-binding antibodies (F61 and H121) showed high affinity neutralization against SARS-CoV-2, whereas three S2-target antibodies failed to neutralize SARS-CoV-2. Following structure analysis, F61 identified a linear epitope located in residues G446 - S494, which overlapped with angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) binding sites, while H121 recognized a conformational epitope located on the side face of RBD, outside from ACE2 binding domain. Hence the cocktail of the two antibodies achieved better performance of neutralization to SARS-CoV-2. Importantly, F61 and H121 exhibited efficient neutralizing activity against variants B.1.1.7 and B.1.351, those showed immune escape. Efficient neutralization of F61 and H121 against multiple mutations within RBD revealed a broad neutralizing activity against SARS-CoV-2 variants, which mitigated the risk of viral escape. Our findings defined the basis of therapeutic cocktails of F61 and H121 with broad neutralization and delivered a guideline for the current and future vaccine design, therapeutic antibody development, and antigen diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 and its novel variants.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.04.16.440083v1" target="_blank">Antibody Cocktail Exhibits Broad Neutralization against SARS-CoV-2 and SARS-CoV-2 variants</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Immunodominant B cell epitope in SARS-CoV-2 RBD comprises a B.1.351 and P.1 mutation hotspot: implications for viral spread and antibody escape</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Recent SARS-CoV-2 variants pose important concerns due to their higher transmissibility (1) and escape (2) from previous infections or vaccine-induced neutralizing antibodies (nAb). The receptor binding domain (RBD) of the Spike protein is a major nAb target (3), but data on its B cell epitopes are still lacking. Using a peptide microarray, we identified an immunodominant epitope (S415-429) recognized by 68% of sera from 71 convalescent Brazilians infected with the ancestral variant. In contrast with previous studies, we have identified a linear IgG and IgA antibody binding epitope within the RBD. IgG and IgA antibody levels for this epitope positively correlated with nAb titers, suggesting a potential target of antibody neutralizing activity. Interestingly, this immunodominant RBD region harbors the mutation hotspot site K417 present in P.1 (K417T) and B.1.351 (K417N) variants. In silico simulation analyses indicate impaired RBD binding to nAb in both variants and that glycosylation in the B.1.351 417N could further hinder antibody binding as compared to the K417T mutation in P.1. This is in line with published data showing that nAb from either convalescents or anti-CoV-2 vaccinees are less effective towards B.1.351 than for P.1. Our data support the occurrence of immune pressure and selection involving this immunodominant epitope that may have critically contributed to the recent COVID-19 marked rise in Brazil and South Africa, and pinpoint a potential additional immune escape mechanism for SARS-CoV-2.
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.03.11.21253399v2" target="_blank">Immunodominant B cell epitope in SARS-CoV-2 RBD comprises a B.1.351 and P.1 mutation hotspot: implications for viral spread and antibody escape</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>A Randomized Trial of Otilimab in Severe COVID-19 Pneumonia (OSCAR)</strong> -
<div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
BACKGROUND Increasing age is a risk factor for COVID-19 severity and mortality; emerging science implicates GM-CSF and dysregulated myeloid cell responses in the pathophysiology of severe COVID-19. METHODS We conducted a large, global, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled study evaluating a single 90 mg infusion of otilimab (human anti-GM-CSF monoclonal) plus standard of care in adults hospitalized with severe COVID-19 respiratory failure and systemic inflammation, stratified by age and clinical status. Primary outcome was the proportion of patients alive and free of respiratory failure at Day 28; secondary endpoints included all-cause mortality at Day 60. RESULTS Overall, 806 patients were randomized (1:1); 71% of patients receiving otilimab were alive and free of respiratory failure at Day 28 versus 67% receiving placebo, although this did not reach statistical significance (model-adjusted difference 5.3% [95% CI 0.8, 11.4]; p=0.09). However, there was a benefit in the pre-defined ≥70-year age group (model-adjusted difference 19.1% [95% CI 5.2, 33.1]; nominal p=0.009); these patients also had a reduction of 14.4% (95% CI 0.9, 27.9%; nominal p=0.04) in model-adjusted all-cause mortality at Day 60. Safety findings were comparable between otilimab and placebo, and consistent with severe COVID-19. CONCLUSIONS Although not statistically significant in the overall population, otilimab demonstrated a substantial benefit in patients aged ≥70, possibly reflecting a population that could benefit from therapeutic blocking of GM-CSF in severe COVID-19 where myeloid cell dysregulation is predominant. These findings are being confirmed in a further cohort of patients aged ≥70 in Part 2 of this study. (ClinicalTrials.gov number: NCT04376684).
</p>
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.04.14.21255475v1" target="_blank">A Randomized Trial of Otilimab in Severe COVID-19 Pneumonia (OSCAR)</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>The effect of antibody test result knowledge on transmission reducing behaviours</strong> -
<div>
This study explored the effect knowledge of antibody status has on compliance with transmission reducing behaviours (TRBs). Participants (n=82) comprised of NHS Lothian staff and individuals enrolled in the BioResource study with community diagnosed and treated SARS-CoV-2 infections. They completed a baseline health beliefs questionnaire, provided blood samples for antibody testing and received result 2-4 weeks later. Around 2-4 weeks later, participants completed follow-up health belief questionnaires. The questionnaire was designed based on the constructs of the Health Belief Model, the most prominent framework for understanding why individuals may or may not act in the face of a threat. Fifty-six participants completed the follow-up health belief questionnaires. Knowledge of antibody status did not affect compliance with TRBs. Increased perceived benefits, cues to action and self-efficacy, and decreased perceived barriers, to comply with TRBs was significantly associated with higher compliance. No significant correlation was found between measures of susceptibility or severity and compliance with TRBs. Interventions to increase perceived benefits, cues to action and self-efficacy, and decrease barriers, to engaging in TRBs should be explored.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://psyarxiv.com/unm7r/" target="_blank">The effect of antibody test result knowledge on transmission reducing behaviours</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Effects of scientific literacy on attitudes toward COVID-19 vaccinations and preventive behaviors: A pre-registered study</strong> -
<div>
The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, which began in early 2020, is a global public health crisis. To prevent the spread of COVID-19, it is necessary to promote vaccine administration and preventive behaviors (e.g., mask, handwashing, social distancing). However, some people have negative attitudes toward vaccine administration and preventive behaviors. The present study investigated how scientific literacy and perceived understanding of COVID-19 influence attitudes toward COVID-19 vaccinations and preventive behaviors. The findings demonstrated that both scientific literacy and perceived understanding of COVID-19 vaccines were positively associated with attitudes toward COVID-19 vaccines. Additionally, perceived understanding of COVID-19 preventive behaviors (but not scientific literacy) was positively associated with attitudes toward/practice of COVID-19 preventive behaviors. Collectively, our findings revealed the role of cognitive factors in preventing the global public health crisis and demonstrated the effects of objective and subjective knowledge on attitudes toward COVID-19 vaccinations and preventive behaviors.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://psyarxiv.com/sfp5z/" target="_blank">Effects of scientific literacy on attitudes toward COVID-19 vaccinations and preventive behaviors: A pre-registered study</a>
</div></li>
<li><strong>Using Absolutist Word Frequency from Online Searches to Measure Population Mental Health Dynamics</strong> -
<div>
The assessment of population mental health relies on survey data from representative samples, which come with considerable costs. Drawing on research which established that absolutist words (e.g. never) are semantic markers for depression, we propose a new measure of population mental health based on the frequency of absolutist words in online search data (Absolute Thinking Index; ATI). Our aims were to first validate the ATI, and to use it to model public mental health dynamics in France and the UK during the current COVID-19 pandemic. To do so, we extracted time series for a validated dictionary of 19 absolutist words, from which the ATI was computed (weekly averages, 2019-2020, n = 208). We then tested the relationship between ATI and longitudinal survey data of population mental health in the UK and France. ATI was linked with survey depression scores in the UK, r = .68, 95%CI[.34,.86], β = .23, 95%CI[.09,.37] in France and displayed similar trends. We finally assessed the pandemic’s impact on ATI using Bayesian structural time-series models. These revealed that the pandemic increased ATI by 3.2%, 95%CI[2.1,4.2] in France and 3.7%, 95%CI[2.9,4.4] in the UK. Mixed-effects models showed that ATI was related to COVID-19 new deaths in both countries β = .14, 95%CI[.14,.21]. Our results demonstrate the validity of the ATI as a measure of population mental health (depression) in France and the UK. We propose that researchers use it as cost-effective public mental health “thermometer” for applied and research purposes.
</div>
<div class="article-link article-html-link">
🖺 Full Text HTML: <a href="https://psyarxiv.com/njtzc/" target="_blank">Using Absolutist Word Frequency from Online Searches to Measure Population Mental Health Dynamics</a>
</div></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-clinical-trials">From Clinical Trials</h1>
<ul>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Clinical Study in the Treatment of Patients With Moderate Course of COVID-19</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Drug: COVID-globulin;   Drug: Placebo<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   Microgen<br/><b>Not yet recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Rehabilitation for Patients With Persistent Symptoms Post COVID-19</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   Covid19<br/><b>Intervention</b>:   Other: Concentrated rehabilitation for patients with persistent symptoms post COVID-19<br/><b>Sponsors</b>:   Western Norway University of Applied Sciences;   Helse-Bergen HF<br/><b>Recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>A Nurse-Community Health Worker-Family Partnership Model: Addressing Uptake of COVID-19 Testing and Control Measures</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19<br/><b>Intervention</b>:   Behavioral: Nurse-Community-Family Partnership Intervention<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   New York University<br/><b>Not yet recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Efficacy and Safety of Three Different Doses of an Anti SARS-CoV-2 Hyperimmune Equine Serum in COVID-19 Patients</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   Covid19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Biological: Anti SARS-CoV-2 equine hyperimmune serum;   Biological: placebo<br/><b>Sponsors</b>:   Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social;   Universidad de Costa Rica;   Ministry of Health Costa Rica<br/><b>Not yet recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Viral Clearance, PK and Tolerability of Ensovibep in COVID-19 Patients</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   Covid19<br/><b>Intervention</b>:   Drug: ensovibep<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   Molecular Partners AG<br/><b>Recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>A Clinical Study Evaluating Inhaled Aviptadil on COVID-19</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   Covid19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Drug: Inhaled Aviptadil;   Drug: Placebo<br/><b>Sponsors</b>:   Centurion Pharma;   Klinar CRO<br/><b>Recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The Effects of a Multi-factorial Rehabilitation Program for Healthcare Workers Suffering From Post-COVID-19 Fatigue Syndrome</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19<br/><b>Intervention</b>:   Other: Exercise<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   Medical University of Vienna<br/><b>Recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>ACTIV-3b: Therapeutics for Severely Ill Inpatients With COVID-19</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   Covid19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Biological: Remdesivir;   Drug: Remdesivir placebo;   Biological: VIP;   Drug: VIP Placebo;   Drug: Corticosteroid<br/><b>Sponsors</b>:   National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID);   International Network for Strategic Initiatives in Global HIV Trials (INSIGHT);   University of Copenhagen;   Medical Research Council;   Kirby Institute;   Washington D.C. Veterans Affairs Medical Center;   AIDS Clinical Trials Group;   National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI);   US Department of Veterans Affairs;   Prevention and Early Treatment of Acute Lung Injury (PETAL);   Cardiothoracic Surgical Trials Network (CTSN);   NeuroRx, Inc.<br/><b>Not yet recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Safety and Immunogenicity of the Inactivated Koçak-19 Inaktif Adjuvanlı COVID-19 Vaccine Compared to Placebo</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19 Vaccine<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Biological: Koçak-19 Inaktif Adjuvanlı COVID-19 Vaccine 4 µg/0.5 ml Vaccine;   Biological: Koçak-19 Inaktif Adjuvanlı COVID-19 Vaccine 6 µg/0.5 ml Vaccine;   Biological: Placebo<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   Kocak Farma<br/><b>Recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Study on Sequential Immunization of Recombinant COVID-19 Vaccine (Ad5 Vector) and RBD-based Protein Subunit Vaccine</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Biological: recombinant Ad5 vectored COVID-19 vaccine;   Biological: RBD-based protein subunit vaccine (ZF2001) against COVID-19;   Biological: trivalent split influenza vaccine<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   Jiangsu Province Centers for Disease Control and Prevention<br/><b>Recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Total-Body Parametric 18F-FDG PET of COVID-19</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   Covid19<br/><b>Intervention</b>:   Device: uEXPLORER/mCT<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   University of California, Davis<br/><b>Recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Omega-3 Oil Use in COVID-19 Patients in Qatar</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   COVID-19<br/><b>Intervention</b>:   Drug: Omega 3 fatty acid<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   Hamad Medical Corporation<br/><b>Recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Cetirizine and Famotidine for COVID-19</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   Covid19<br/><b>Interventions</b>:   Drug: Cetirizine and Famotidine;   Drug: Placebo<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   Emory University<br/><b>Not yet recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>TCB008 in Patients With COVID-19</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   Covid19<br/><b>Intervention</b>:   Drug: TCB008<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   TC Biopharm<br/><b>Not yet recruiting</b></p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Evaluation of Anti-COVID 19 Pfizer Vaccination Effect on COVID 19 Detection Using Breath Analysis</strong> - <b>Condition</b>:   Covid19<br/><b>Intervention</b>:   Diagnostic Test: vaccination against COVID19<br/><b>Sponsor</b>:   Scentech Medical Technologies Ltd<br/><b>Recruiting</b></p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-pubmed">From PubMed</h1>
<ul>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>High-throughput screening identifies established drugs as SARS-CoV-2 PLpro inhibitors</strong> - A new coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) has been identified as the etiologic agent for the COVID-19 outbreak. Currently, effective treatment options remain very limited for this disease; therefore, there is an urgent need to identify new anti-COVID-19 agents. In this study, we screened over 6,000 compounds that included approved drugs, drug candidates in clinical trials, and pharmacologically active compounds to identify leads that target the SARS-CoV-2 papain-like protease (PLpro). Together with main…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Multi-conformation representation of Mpro identifies promising candidates for drug repurposing against COVID-19</strong> - The COVID-19 main protease (Mpro), one of the conserved proteins of the novel coronavirus is crucial for its replication and so is a very lucrative drug target. Till now, there is no drug molecule that has been convincingly identified as the inhibitor of the function of this protein. The current pandemic situation demands a shortcut to quickly reach to a lead compound or a drug, which may not be the best but might serve as an interim solution at least. Following this notion, the present…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Orally delivered MK-4482 inhibits SARS-CoV-2 replication in the Syrian hamster model</strong> - The COVID-19 pandemic progresses unabated in many regions of the world. An effective antiviral against SARS-CoV-2 that could be administered orally for use following high-risk exposure would be of substantial benefit in controlling the COVID-19 pandemic. Herein, we show that MK-4482, an orally administered nucleoside analog, inhibits SARS-CoV-2 replication in the Syrian hamster model. The inhibitory effect of MK-4482 on SARS-CoV-2 replication is observed in animals when the drug is administered…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Novel inhibitors of the main protease enzyme of SARS-CoV-2 identified via molecular dynamics simulation-guided in vitro assay</strong> - For the COVID-19 pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2, there are currently no effective drugs or vaccines to treat this coronavirus infection. In this study, we focus on the main protease enzyme of SARS-CoV-2, 3CL^(pro), which is critical for viral replication. We employ explicit solvent molecular dynamics simulations of about 150 compounds docked into 3CL^(pro)’s binding site and that had emerged as good main protease ligands from our previous in silico screening of over 1.2 million compounds. By…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Induction of Exaggerated Cytokine Production in Human Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells by a Recombinant SARS-CoV-2 Spike Glycoprotein S1 and Its Inhibition by Dexamethasone</strong> - An understanding of the pathological inflammatory mechanisms involved in SARS-CoV-2 virus infection is necessary in order to discover new molecular pharmacological targets for SARS-CoV-2 cytokine storm. In this study, the effects of a recombinant SARS-CoV-2 spike glycoprotein S1 was investigated in human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs). Stimulation of PBMCs with spike glycoprotein S1 (100 ng/mL) resulted in significant elevation in the production of TNFα, IL-6, IL-1β and IL-8….</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Polysulfates block SARS-CoV-2 uptake via electrostatic interactions</strong> - Here we report that negatively charged polysulfates can bind to the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2 via electrostatic interactions. Using a plaque reduction assay, we compare inhibition of SARS-CoV-2 by heparin, pentosan sulfate, linear polyglycerol sulfate (LPGS) and hyperbranched polyglycerol sulfate (HPGS). Highly sulfated LPGS is the optimal inhibitor, with a half-maximal inhibitory concentration (IC 50 ) of 67 μg/mL (approx. 1.6 μM). This synthetic polysulfate exhibits more than 60-fold higher…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Wuhan to World: The COVID-19 Pandemic</strong> - COVID-19 is a Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), caused by SARS-CoV-2, a novel virus which belongs to the family Coronaviridae. It was first reported in December 2019 in the Wuhan city of China and soon after, the virus and hence the disease got spread to the entire world. As of February 26, 2021, SARS-CoV-2 has infected ~112.20 million people and caused ~2.49 million deaths across the globe. Although the case fatality rate among SARS-CoV-2 patient is lower (~2.15%) than its earlier…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Development of flexible electrochemical impedance spectroscopy-based biosensing platform for rapid screening of SARS-CoV-2 inhibitors</strong> - Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) enters the cells through the binding of its spike protein (S-protein) to the cell surface-expressing angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2). Thus, inhibition of S-protein-ACE2 binding may impede SARS-CoV-2 cell entry and attenuate the progression of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). In this study, an electrochemical impedance spectroscopy-based biosensing platform consisting of a recombinant ACE2-coated palladium nano-thin-film…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>SARS-CoV-2 mutations acquired in mink reduce antibody-mediated neutralization</strong> - Transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) from humans to farmed mink has been observed in Europe and the US. In the infected animals, viral variants arose that harbored mutations in the spike (S) protein, the target of neutralizing antibodies, and these variants were transmitted back to humans. This raised concerns that mink might become a constant source of human infection with SARS-CoV-2 variants associated with an increased threat to human health and…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Synergistic Inhibition of SARS-CoV-2 Replication Using Disulfiram/Ebselen and Remdesivir</strong> - The SARS-CoV-2 replication and transcription complex (RTC) comprising nonstructural protein (nsp) 2-16 plays crucial roles in viral replication, reducing the efficacy of broad-spectrum nucleoside analog drugs such as remdesivir and evading innate immune responses. Most studies target a specific viral component of the RTC such as the main protease or the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase. In contrast, our strategy is to target multiple conserved domains of the RTC to prevent SARS-CoV-2 genome…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Intriguing Antiviral Modified Nucleosides: A Retrospective View into the Future Treatment of COVID-19</strong> - Great pioneers of nucleic acid chemistry had elucidated nucleic acid functions and structures and developed various antiviral modified nucleoside drugs. It is possible in theory that antiviral modified nucleosides prevent viral replication by inhibiting viral polymerases. However, biological phenomena far exceed our predictions at times. We describe the characteristics of the approved antiviral modified nucleosides from an organic chemistry perspective. Also, based on our experiences and…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Angiotensin Receptor Blockers for COVID-19: Pathophysiological and Pharmacological Considerations About Ongoing and Future Prospective Clinical Trials</strong> - COVID-19 pandemic demands a swift response to find therapeutic tools that effectively reduce morbidity and mortality. Despite initial fears, evidence from retrospective observational studies supports the inhibition of the renin-angiotensin system as an emerging pathway to delay or moderate angiotensin II-driven lung inflammation. This has triggered several prospective clinical trials. In this commentary we provide an overview and analysis of current ongoing clinical trials aimed at evaluating…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Epstein-Barr virus lytic replication induces ACE2 expression and enhances SARS CoV-2 pseudotyped virus entry in epithelial cells</strong> - Understanding factors that affect the infectivity of SARS CoV-2 is central to combatting COVID-19. The virus surface spike protein of SARS CoV-2 mediates viral entry into cells by binding to the ACE2 receptor on epithelial cells and promoting fusion. We find that Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) induces ACE2 expression when it enters the lytic replicative cycle in epithelial cells. By using VSV particles pseudotyped with the SARS CoV-2 spike protein, we show that lytic EBV replication enhances…</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>C5aR inhibition of non-immune cells suppresses inflammation and maintains epithelial integrity in SARS-CoV-2-infected primary human airway epithelia</strong> - CONCLUSION: Crucially, we illustrate here for the first time, that targeting the anaphylotoxin receptors C3aR and C5aR in non-immune respiratory cells can prevent intrinsic lung inflammation and tissue damage. This opens up the exciting possibility in the treatment of COVID-19.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Hypoxic and pharmacological activation of HIF inhibits SARS-CoV-2 infection of lung epithelial cells</strong> - COVID-19, caused by the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, is a global health issue with more than 2 million fatalities to date. Viral replication is shaped by the cellular microenvironment, and one important factor to consider is oxygen tension, in which hypoxia inducible factor (HIF) regulates transcriptional responses to hypoxia. SARS-CoV-2 primarily infects cells of the respiratory tract, entering via its spike glycoprotein binding to angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2). We demonstrate that…</p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-patent-search">From Patent Search</h1>
<ul>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Compositions and methods for the treatment of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-COV-2) infection</strong> - - <a href="https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=AU321590214">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>5-(4-TERT-BUTOXY PHENYL)-3-(4N-OCTYLOXYPHENYL)-4,5-DIHYDROISOXAZOLE MOLECULE (C-I): A PROMISING DRUG FOR SARS-COV-2 (TARGET I) AND BLOOD CANCER (TARGET II)</strong> - The present invention relates to a method ofmolecular docking of crystalline compound (C-I) with SARS-COV 2 proteins and its repurposing with proteins of blood cancer, comprising the steps of ; employing an algorithmto carry molecular docking calculations of the crystalized compound (C-I); studying the compound computationally to understand the effect of binding groups with the atoms of the amino acids on at least four target proteins of SARS-COV 2; downloading the structure of the proteins; removing water molecules, co enzymes and inhibitors attached to the enzymes; drawing the structure using Chem Sketch software; converting the mol file into a PDB file; using crystalized compound (C-I) for comparative and drug repurposing with two other mutated proteins; docking compound into the groove of the proteins; saving format of docked molecules retrieved; and filtering and docking the best docked results. - <a href="https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=IN320884617">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>AQUEOUS ZINC OXIDE NANOSPRAY COMPOSITIONS</strong> - Disclosed herein is aqueous zinc oxide nano spray compositions comprising zinc oxide nanoparticles and a synthetic surfactant for controlling the spread of Covid-19 virus. - <a href="https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=IN321836709">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>一种肝素类药物组合物、喷鼻剂及其制备方法及应用</strong> - 本发明公开了一种肝素类药物组合物、喷鼻剂及其制备方法及应用。该肝素类药物组合物包括肝素钠和阿比朵尔。本发明中的肝素类药物组合物首次采用肝素钠和阿比朵尔联合使用，普通肝素钠联合1μM/L以上的阿比朵尔病毒抑制效率显著高于单独普通肝素钠或单独阿比多尔组（p&lt;0.05）。 - <a href="https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=CN321712860">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>USING CLINICAL ONTOLOGIES TO BUILD KNOWLEDGE BASED CLINICAL DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEM FOR NOVEL CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19) WITH THE ADOPTION OF TELECONFERENCING FOR THE PRIMARY HEALTH CENTRES/SATELLITE CLINICS OF ROYAL OMAN POLICE IN SULTANATE OF OMAN</strong> - - <a href="https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=AU320796026">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>抗SARS-COV-2中和抗体</strong> - 本公开提供了针对SARS‑COV‑2的新颖中和抗体和其抗原结合片段。还提供了包括其的药物组合物和试剂盒以及其用途。 - <a href="https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=CN321712812">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Peptides and their use in diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 infection</strong> - - <a href="https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=AU319943278">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Method and compositions for treating coronavirus infection</strong> - A method of treating viral infection, such as viral infection caused by a virus of the Coronaviridae family, is provided. A composition having at least oleandrin is used to treat viral infection. - <a href="https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=AU319943054">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">**一种4-肟-5<code>-（2-甲基丙酰基）尿苷的制备方法** - 本发明公开了一种4‑肟‑5</code>‑（2‑甲基丙酰基）尿苷的制备方法，包括：S1：在酸存在条件下，使得化合物1和2,2‑二甲氧基丙烷在有机溶剂中反应得到化合物2；S2：在碱存在条件下，使得化合物2在有机溶剂中反应得到化合物3；S3：在羟胺水溶液存在条件下使化合物3在有机溶剂中反应得到化合物4；S4：在酸存在条件下使化合物4在有机溶剂中反应得到化合物I。本发明制备得到的结晶性能良好的固体，且制备条件简单，转化率以及原子经济性好。 - <a href="https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=CN321712529">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>一种COVID-19假病毒及其制备方法和用途</strong> - 本发明涉及生物技术领域，特别是涉及一种COVID‑19假病毒及其制备方法和用途本发明，所述COVID‑19假病毒由外壳蛋白质粒与辅助质粒经病毒包装而成，所述外壳蛋白质粒包括表达COVID‑19 S蛋白的质粒、表达COVID‑19 M蛋白的质粒和表达COVID‑19 E蛋白的质粒。本发明的COVID‑19假病毒采用三质粒系统包装，以S/M/E蛋白替代表达VSV‑G蛋白，比仅含有S蛋白的假病毒感染能力更强、灵敏度更高。而且，COVID‑19假病毒携带两种荧光报告基团，不同的荧光报告基团可应用于不同的场景，使得COVID‑19假病毒应用时更简便。 - <a href="https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=CN321712520">link</a></p></li>
</ul>
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<h1 data-aos="fade-down" id="daily-dose">Daily-Dose</h1>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" data-aos-anchor-placement="top-bottom" id="contents">Contents</h1>
<ul>
<li><a href="#from-new-yorker">From New Yorker</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-vox">From Vox</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-the-hindu-sports">From The Hindu: Sports</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-the-hindu-national-news">From The Hindu: National News</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-bbc-europe">From BBC: Europe</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-ars-technica">From Ars Technica</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-jokes-subreddit">From Jokes Subreddit</a></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-new-yorker">From New Yorker</h1>
<ul>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Leaving Afghanistan, and the Lessons of America’s Longest War</strong> - It is the Afghan people, of course, who have paid the highest price for America’s failed ambitions. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/leaving-afghanistan-and-the-lessons-of-americas-longest-war">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>What Will It Take to Pandemic-Proof America?</strong> - When the next virus strikes, we’ll look back on this moment as an opportunity that we either seized or squandered. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/science/annals-of-medicine/what-will-it-take-to-pandemic-proof-america">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>How We Fell in Love in Lockdown</strong> - The artist Philippa Found compiled hundreds of written accounts of love in the time of COVID-19 for a project called “Lockdown Love Stories.” - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/letter-from-the-uk/how-we-fell-in-love-in-lockdown">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Andrew Cuomo, Matt Gaetz, and the New “Never Resign” School of Politics</strong> - In recent years, many politicians have seemed to realize that remaining in office is often the best path out of a scandal—for their own sake if no one else’s. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-local-correspondents/andrew-cuomo-matt-gaetz-and-the-new-never-resign-school-of-politics">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>How the Pandemic Changed Europe</strong> - The historian Adam Tooze discusses the vaccine rollout and shifting politics in the E.U. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a/how-the-pandemic-changed-europe">link</a></p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-vox">From Vox</h1>
<ul>
<li><strong>Global deaths from Covid-19 have now topped 3 million</strong> -
<figure>
<img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/gmZzSeypIraIvZyxwmmu0J4yyNQ=/276x0:2599x1742/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/69143411/1232308384.0.jpg"/>
<figcaption>
A burial at the Vila Formosa cemetery in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on April 14. Brazil is suffering with the world’s highest Covid-19 death rate. | Miguel Schincariol/AFP/Getty Images
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
There are now more people who have died from the coronavirus worldwide than there are residents in Chicago.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="cC91eR">
Imagine that everyone living in Chicago died of a deadly disease. The world passed this grim milestone on Saturday, according to the <a href="https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html">Johns Hopkins Covid-19 tracker</a>, which has officially recorded 3 million Covid-19 deaths around the globe — roughly 300,000 more people than all the current residents of the Windy City.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="KOKQgN">
The number comes as some governments have begun ramping up vaccinations while simultaneously racing against outbreaks of multiple variants of the virus. As some may be beginning to sense an end to the pandemic, the virus still continues to spread at an alarming rate globally.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="aOYkHZ">
Globally, new infections are up recently, <a href="https://apnews.com/article/ukraine-brazil-caracas-portugal-india-ccad03475cfd5c846f11189a8bfd99c7">according to the Associated Press</a>, averaging more than 700,000 cases and 12,000 deaths a day.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="aD6qcw">
“This is not the situation we want to be in 16 months into a pandemic, where we have proven control measures,” Maria Van Kerkhove, one of the World Health Organization’s Covid-19 leaders, told <a href="https://apnews.com/article/ukraine-brazil-caracas-portugal-india-ccad03475cfd5c846f11189a8bfd99c7">the AP</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="0roUo2">
The death toll is accelerating, as the world passed 2 million deaths just two months ago. Brazil is an outlier for its Covid-19 death rate, accounting for about 3,000 deaths daily, approximately a quarter of the global daily death count. The country’s <a href="https://www.cnn.com/videos/world/2021/04/16/brazil-coronavirus-jair-bolsonaro-rio-de-janeiro-darlington-pkg-intl-ldn-vpx.cnn">alarming mortality rate</a> can largely be attributed to President Jair Bolsonaro and his Health Ministry’s tepid response to the virus. The Brazilian president has consistently opposed lockdowns and only recently came around to accepting vaccines as a means of fighting the pandemic.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="tIcnhS">
In the US, the vaccination rate continues to grow, with 206 million doses administered as of Saturday, according to <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/covid-vaccine-tracker-global-distribution/">a Bloomberg report</a>. But while wealthier countries may be eyeing a vaccine-facilitated end to the pandemic, less economically fortunate areas have been left waiting.
</p>
<h3 id="Stk06o">
Countries are vaccinating, but at different speeds
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="5t2bOD">
Vaccinations are being administered in about 190 countries worldwide, but some, like the US and the UK, are well ahead of less developed nations. Of the 700 million jabs administered worldwide, 87 percent have gone to high-income or upper middle-income countries, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/who-director-laments-shocking-imbalance-covid-19-shot-distribution-2021-04-09/">according to comments last Friday</a> from WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="D3csuk">
“On average in high-income countries, almost one in four people has received a Covid-19 vaccine,” he said at a press briefing. “In low-income countries, it’s one in more than 500.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="SwNJpA">
While the US and some western European countries have vaccination programs well underway, American drug companies have been waging a battle to preserve intellectual property rights over their vaccine formulas for as long as possible. This means that cheaper, generic vaccines are not yet available for widespread manufacturing in less developed countries.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="J53PRd">
In February, India and South Africa <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/rich-countries-block-india-south-africas-bid-to-ban-covid-vaccine-patents/a-56460175">appealed to the World Trade Organization</a> to issue an intellectual property waiver on Covid-19 vaccines that would facilitate more widespread production of the shots. That move, however, was blocked by wealthier Western countries, who argued that it would stifle innovation.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="jfCMyP">
Recently, 10 Democratic and progressive senators <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/4/16/us-senators-call-on-biden-to-back-covid-vaccine-patent-waive">wrote a letter</a> to President Joe Biden, asking him to lobby the WTO to relax Covid-19 vaccine IP rules. “Simply put, we must make vaccines, testing, and treatments accessible everywhere if we are going to crush the virus anywhere,” the letter read.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ay6QO7">
Though Biden hasn’t yet made a decision one way or the other, the White House said it was studying the issue.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Jsa1rf">
In the meantime, variants continue to spread, and US health officials worry about a recent decline in testing, which is critical to detecting new variants, as more and more Americans turn their attention toward getting vaccinated.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="F1Auej">
“I think the testing pillar of the pandemic response is still as vital as it’s ever been,” Joseph Petrosino, chair of molecular virology and microbiology at the Baylor College of Medicine, <a href="https://www.vox.com/22321794/covid-19-testing-test-vaccine-coronavirus-variants">told Vox’s Umair Irfan last month</a>. “Not only do we need to test, we need to start identifying which variants of the virus are spreading in a given area.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="z5zQAu">
</p></li>
<li><strong>Biden vows to increase refugee cap after criticism from Democrats</strong> -
<figure>
<img alt="President Biden Delivers Remarks On Russia At The White House" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/IFW3tuLLslaB73L4KMWCEZJZERA=/304x0:5168x3648/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/69143036/1232330976.0.jpg"/>
<figcaption>
President Joe Biden announces new economic sanctions against Russia from the White House on April 15. | Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
By May 15, he’ll raise the number of refugees permitted into the country.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="6wt8RL">
The White House pulled back from its decision earlier this week not to raise the US refugee cap, pledging late Friday to accept more refugees than the historically low levels set by the Trump administration.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="m43zXx">
Last year, Trump <a href="https://www.vox.com/2020/9/11/21431157/trump-refugee-admissions-resettlement-cap-2021">lowered the refugee cap to 15,000</a>, the lowest number allowed into the US since the refugee cap was introduced in 1980. Immigration and refugee advocates had hoped for an ally in Biden, who pledged during his campaign to raise the cap, and proposed <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2021/2/4/22266410/biden-refugee-executive-order">in early February</a> to accept up to 62,500 refugees this year.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ulZs1k">
But earlier this week, the White House broke that promise, placing blame on the former administration’s gutting of the refugee program, which is run by the Department of Health and Human Services.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="XnYTlm">
“For the past few weeks, [President Biden] has been consulting with his advisors to determine what number of refugees could realistically be admitted to the United States between now and October 1,” said White House press secretary Jen Psaki <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/04/16/statement-by-press-secretary-jen-psaki-on-the-emergency-presidential-determination-on-refugee-admissions-for-fiscal-year-2021/">in a statement on Friday</a>. “Given the decimated refugee admissions program we inherited, and burdens on the Office of Refugee Resettlement, his initial goal of 62,500 seems unlikely.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="OJ69rO">
The initial decision drew a strong rebuke from some Democratic lawmakers. Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) called the decision “shameful” in a tweet Friday. She and fellow Democratic Reps. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) and Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) sent a letter to the White House Friday reiterating their call for an increase in the refugee cap.
</p>
<div id="AbUVsP">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" dir="ltr" lang="en">
As a refugee, I know finding a home is a matter of life or death for children around the world.<br/> <br/>It is shameful that <a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"><span class="citation" data-cites="POTUS">@POTUS</span></a> is reneging on a key promise to welcome refugees, moments after <a href="https://twitter.com/RepSchakowsky?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"><span class="citation" data-cites="RepSchakowsky">@RepSchakowsky</span></a> <a href="https://twitter.com/RepJayapal?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"><span class="citation" data-cites="RepJayapal">@RepJayapal</span></a>, myself and others called on him to increase the refugee cap. <a href="https://t.co/eaxjHCUhrI">pic.twitter.com/eaxjHCUhrI</a>
</p>
— Rep. Ilhan Omar (<span class="citation" data-cites="Ilhan">@Ilhan</span>) <a href="https://twitter.com/Ilhan/status/1383113038606254084?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 16, 2021</a>
</blockquote></div></li>
</ul>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="T82yto">
Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) was also critical of the decision. “Facing the greatest refugee crisis in our time, there is no reason to limit the number to 15,000,” Durbin said in a statement, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/04/16/us/biden-news-today#biden-refugees-cap">according to the New York Times</a>. “Say it ain’t so, President Joe.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="S2z0lP">
After reversing their stance on the refugee cap, the White House tried to tamp down criticism by claiming there was “confusion” over the decision not to raise the cap in the first place. Democratic lawmakers applauded the reversal overall, but some of them also pointed out the continuously disorganized response to the refugee crisis.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Q33R7r">
Rep. Verónica Escobar (D-TX) said as much on Twitter Friday, tweeting that she was “heartened” by the White House clarification while also urging the administration to adopt better communication regarding the matter. “Protecting the most vulnerable seeking a safe haven is who [we] are, it’s at the heart of our nation’s values,” she concluded.
</p>
<div id="4bvcH6">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" dir="ltr" lang="en">
While I’m heartened to learn that <a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"><span class="citation" data-cites="POTUS">@POTUS</span></a> still intends to increase the number of refugee admissions, I urge the admin. to move with urgency and communicate with clarity.<br/><br/>Protecting the most vulnerable seeking a safe haven is who are, it’s at the heart of our nation’s values.
</p>
— Rep. Veronica Escobar (<span class="citation" data-cites="RepEscobar">@RepEscobar</span>) <a href="https://twitter.com/RepEscobar/status/1383164900697051137?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 16, 2021</a>
</blockquote>
</div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="FnDZgL">
The Biden administration has taken a number of steps to reverse Trump’s extreme nativist immigration policy. In January, Biden <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2021/1/20/22235986/biden-trump-travel-muslim-ban">reversed the controversial Muslim travel ban</a>. On the flip side, the president has come under criticism from progressives for <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/22299135/biden-kids-cages-migrant-children-carrizo-homestead">continuing to hold unaccompanied minors</a> crossing the border at temporary detention centers.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="YRTmau">
The administration has also struggled with the politics around a recent surge in <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2021/4/15/22383123/migrant-border-asylum-biden-cameroon-guatemala-cuba">people crossing the US southern border</a> in the midst of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and political unrest in Central America.
</p>
<h3 id="vnY3GY">
Biden may see an electoral trap in immigration issues
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="JkH4uB">
While the Biden administration has taken many steps to undo the harmful immigration policies of the Trump administration, the initial balk at raising the cap and the eventual reversal illustrate what a delicate political situation the president finds himself in, early in his first term. Appealing to nativist panic and fearmongering over border surges has become a staple — and successful — electoral strategy for right-wing politicians, and Biden’s careful navigation on this issue may indicate that the president is attempting to avoid a political trap.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="V0VwNX">
Making matters even more complicated for Biden is conservative media’s tendency to stoke this kind of paranoid nationalism. Just this week, Fox News’ Tucker Carlson once again promoted the <a href="https://www.vox.com/world/2017/8/15/16141456/renaud-camus-the-great-replacement-you-will-not-replace-us-charlottesville-white">“great replacement” theory</a>, a myth created by white supremacists which states that Democrats purposely encourage immigration by people of color in order to dilute the electoral power of white people, and by extension, the Republican base. The myth underpins the beliefs of former Trump administration officials like Stephen Miller, who helped guide the former president’s restrictive immigration policies.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="lIQDGR">
Though refugees are not immigrants — nor are they asylum seekers — the Trump administration made no such distinction, viewing them all as political threats. Under Trump, the US refugee cap <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/9/26/20886038/trump-refugee-cap-executive-order">was lowered repeatedly</a> until it hit a low of 15,000 in October last year. That represents the lowest number of refugees accepted into the US in history, at a time when the number of internationally displaced persons is at its highest since World War II.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="W34K6w">
In 2020, the Trump administration delayed making a decision on the cap number, triggering a one-month pause on new refugee resettlements. That, combined with the pandemic, meant that from October 2019 to September 30 the following year, <a href="https://www.vox.com/2020/9/11/21431157/trump-refugee-admissions-resettlement-cap-2021">just 11,814 refugees were resettled</a> within the US.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="UAoO5W">
Biden, by contrast, ran his campaign on reversing the immigration legacy of the Trump administration. In February, <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2021/2/4/22266410/biden-refugee-executive-order">he signed an executive order</a> raising the refugee cap to 125,000 starting this October, all while attempting to ramp up current resettlements before the new fiscal year starts.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="bPDZv3">
Biden acknowledged the bureaucratic challenge ahead of him when he signed the order. “The United States’ moral leadership on refugee issues was a point of bipartisan consensus for so many decades,” <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2021/2/4/22266410/biden-refugee-executive-order">he said</a> in a speech at the State Department in February. “It’s going to take time to rebuild what has been so badly damaged.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ZBpgP2">
But the controversy this week also illustrates that the left flank of the Democratic party remains committed to holding Biden’s feet to the fire on immigration issues. In this round, the progressives seem to have won.
</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Climate change is making your allergies worse</strong> -
<figure>
<img alt="A man with hay fever and a handkerchief in front of his nose stands next to a corkscrew hazel bush. " src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/lf0khsjZQv3D3rM7nZZWhLbkG50=/554x0:3585x2273/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/69142207/GettyImages_1208821617.0.jpeg"/>
<figcaption>
2021 is poised to be yet another brutal year for people with allergies. | Angelika Warmuth/Picture Alliance via Getty Images
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
The annual pollenocalypse is here.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="7JEvWR">
The warm, inviting spring air coupled with vaccinations for Covid-19 are encouraging people to gather outside. But for allergy sufferers, that air is packing a massive wallop that could send them scrambling back indoors.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="S6JKI1">
From <a href="https://wgme.com/news/local/dry-and-mild-weather-in-maine-leading-to-high-levels-of-pollen-this-week">Maine</a> to <a href="https://www.wsfa.com/2021/04/13/is-there-an-end-sight-this-brutal-pollen-season/">Alabama</a>, clouds of allergens like pollen are wafting over cities, leaving millions of people with watery eyes, headaches, and rashes. 2021 is shaping up to be yet another brutal year for allergies. Just like 2020, <a href="https://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/Allergy-Sufferers-Prepare-for-Unusually-Long-Season-Expert-Says-507872031.html">2019</a>, and <a href="https://www.sctimes.com/story/life/wellness/2018/09/16/allergy-season-tips-pollen-fall/1226697002/">2018</a> …
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="erIsr2">
The trend is real: Allergy risk is getting worse over time. The length and intensity of pollen seasons are growing, largely due to climate change. And as the planet continues to warm, more misery is in store.
</p>
<div id="DlYCpD">
<div class="volume-video" id="volume-placement-26">
</div></div></li>
</ul>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="xLdCEC">
Up to <a href="http://www.aafa.org/page/allergy-facts.aspx">50 million</a> Americans are estimated to have allergies, and as pollen counts increase, more people may become allergic.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="JTHL4F">
“I think that what will happen is that more people will get sensitized and then they will present themselves earlier because of the higher pollen count, particularly with tree pollen,” said <a href="https://allergymedgroup.com/about/">Sunil Perera</a>, an allergist in Roseville, California, near Sacramento.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="NxQD4p">
That in turn will become a greater burden on health and the economy, as even people with mild symptoms struggle with remaining active and productive. The cost of treating nasal allergies already tops <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21277528/">$3.4 billion</a> per year in the US. Asthma attacks induced by pollen lead to 20,000 emergency room visits a year in the US.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="GZjK09">
One complication this year, like last, is the Covid-19 pandemic. Many are wondering whether their suffering is being caused by the virus or pollen. There are some overlapping symptoms between Covid-19 and allergies, like a runny nose and a loss of smell, but allergies also produce some distinct signs, like itchy eyes and sneezing, according to the <a href="https://education.aaaai.org/resources-for-a-i-clinicians/covid-19">American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, &amp; Immunology</a>. The more unique symptoms to Covid-19 include fever, cough, and shortness of breath.
</p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt="Chart listing symptoms of allergies, influenza, the common cold, and Covid-19" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/lKui6kpqioGXBAq3V5ERFCjpw2I=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/19950893/Screen_Shot_2020_05_07_at_2.46.38_PM.png"/> <cite><a class="ql-link" href="https://www.aaaai.org/Aaaai/media/MediaLibrary/Images/Promos/Coronavirus-Symptoms.pdf" target="_blank">American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, &amp; Immunology</a></cite>
<figcaption>
Allergy symptoms can overlap with Covid-19, but there are some distinct signs.
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="bznkt0">
However, many people with Covid-19 have no symptoms at all. And there’s no reason why someone couldn’t have Covid-19 and allergies at the same time.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="cDhswm">
In fact, doctors warn that severe allergies could make people more vulnerable to respiratory infections. “When allergic inflammation occurs in the respiratory tract, [infections] are easier,” Perera said. “We see concurrent allergies and infections when [patients] come see us.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="spR46E">
Face masks may provide allergy sufferers with some relief, although they leave eyes exposed. But as the planet continues to warm, allergy sufferers will have a harder time finding refuge. Grains of pollen range in <a href="http://www-saps.plantsci.cam.ac.uk/pollen/index2.htm">size</a> from 200 microns down to 10 microns, with smaller grains able to penetrate deeper into the lungs. Small pollen grains can even seep indoors. And researchers are finding out just how much our own insults to the environment are to blame.
</p>
<h3 id="mssfSl">
How climate change makes allergies worse
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="yqLTNH">
Allergies are the result of the immune system overreacting to something that is otherwise benign. That can lead to annoying but mild symptoms like hives or itchy eyes. But it can also cause life-threatening complications like <a href="https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/anaphylaxis/symptoms-causes/syc-20351468">anaphylaxis</a>, where blood pressure plummets and airways start swelling shut.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="6Bybjj">
Pollen is one of the most common allergens. It’s produced as part of the reproductive cycle of plants. The timing of pollen production varies depending on the plant species, with trees peaking in the spring, grass over the summer, and ragweed in the fall.
</p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt="This chart shows the pollen peaks for various species in the mid-Atlantic region of the United States. Tree pollen peaks in the spring, grass pollen peaks in the summer, and weed pollen peaks in the fall." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/Phm2fRa9leSkd5B_--_45oCT3i4=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/16290518/Screen_Shot_2019_05_21_at_10.12.42_AM.png"/> <cite><a class="ql-link" href="http://jhuasthmaallergy.jhmi.edu/allergicreactions/pollen-chartmidatlantic.pdf" target="_blank">Johns Hopkins University, Division of Allergy and Clinical Immunology</a></cite>
<figcaption>
Different plants reach peak pollen production at different times of year.
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="RDPEAk">
There are two main ways that humans are changing pollen production. One mechanism is that humans are increasing the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere by burning fossil fuels. Atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations have risen from 280 parts per million in the 1800s to <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2021/04/05/atmospheric-co2-concentration-record/">420 ppm today</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="OBZdhn">
“When CO2 goes up, plants tend to grow a little bigger,” said <a href="https://faculty.utah.edu/u6003057-WILLIAM_ANDEREGG/research/index.hml">William Anderegg</a>, an assistant professor of biology at the University of Utah. “They tend to put out more flowers as a fraction of their mass, and individual flowers tend to have actually more pollen on them.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="aYovhY">
Plants that produce more pollen tend to produce more seeds. That also means more pollen-spewing plants in the next season.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="IRCA3K">
The other mechanism is the warming induced by carbon dioxide. Since it traps heat, higher concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere are causing the planet to heat up. This is leading to warmer winters and earlier springs, giving plants a head start on pollen production. “As spring heats up, all of these life cycle events, including pollen seasons, tend to shift earlier,” Anderegg said.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ahqWWD">
The combination of these two factors is leading to more pollen production and over a longer period of time.
</p>
<h3 id="4pNxG4">
Humanity’s fingerprints are becoming more visible in the pollen-filled skies
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ybvas0">
<a href="https://www.vox.com/21452781/zogg-fire-glass-wildfire-california-climate-change-hurricanes-attribution-2020-debate">Attribution</a> is the growing climate science field that seeks to figure out not just how the climate is changing but also to what extent human activity is specifically to blame — and what amount of change might have occurred otherwise, without human meddling. Scientists use observations and models to figure out how phenomena ranging from extreme flooding to wildfires would be different if humans weren’t spewing gigatons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="13myIb">
“Think of it as looking at a baseball player before and after they start using steroids,” said <a href="https://www.publichealth.columbia.edu/people/our-faculty/lhz2103">Lewis Ziska</a>, an associate professor at the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="bzKPpK">
Researchers have now begun to attribute changes in allergens to human activity. In a study published in February in the <a href="https://www.pnas.org/content/118/7/e2013284118"><em>Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America</em></a>, Ziska, Anderegg, and their colleagues calculated that human impacts on the climate account for roughly half of the increase in the length of pollen seasons in North America. Human-caused climate change also accounts for 8 percent of the observed increases in pollen concentrations.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="RPMQLF">
“There is a very distinct climate signal that is appearing that we can directly associate with these changes in pollen, both with respect to load — how much pollen — but also with respect to the entire exposure time,” Ziska said.
</p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt="A massive cloud of pollen wafts from the trees in a coniferous forest around the Niedersonthofener Lake in Germany." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/NRMKsF9Sng_8OTDQL0VX07NfPs4=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/16016697/GettyImages_977060358.jpg"/> <cite>Karl-Josef Hildenbrand/Picture Alliance via Getty Images</cite>
<figcaption>
Humans are changing the climate, which is making pollen seasons longer and more intense.
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="OXIClf">
These effects are already visible, and as humanity continues burning fossil fuels, these impacts are poised to grow. Some estimates show that pollen counts of all varieties will <a href="https://www.eenews.net/climatewire/stories/1059973047/">double by 2040</a> in some parts of the country, depending on what pathway the world takes on greenhouse gas emissions.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="i9NT28">
The northern latitudes will likely end up sneezing the most since they are the fastest warming parts of the planet. And pollen isn’t the only allergen of concern. As permafrost melts in places like Alaska, moisture is seeping into homes, creating an inviting habitat for mold. That mold can then produce spores that trigger allergies. Stinging insects are another concern in the far north. Warmer winters mean more insects survive into the spring, increasing their numbers. People who may not have realized they are allergic to stings can end up finding out the hard way that they are vulnerable.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Ds0hCD">
<a href="http://www.allergyalaska.com/about-us/our-providers/jeffrey-g-demain-md">Jeffrey Demain</a>, director of the Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology Center of Alaska, told Vox in 2018 that he observed that the northernmost part of Alaska saw a 626 percent increase in insect bites and stings between 2004 and 2006 compared with the period between 1999 and 2001.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ye9Rho">
What’s emerging from the haze is that the health burden from allergies of all sorts is poised to grow, and there will be little relief for allergy sufferers on the horizon. But it also highlights how climate change impacts are already here, and they’re going to get worse. “This really underscores the urgency of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and tackling climate change as quickly as we can,” Anderegg said.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="hLtPPj">
</p>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-the-hindu-sports">From The Hindu: Sports</h1>
<ul>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Indian Premier League 2021 | RCB vs KKR | Maxwell, de Villiers power Bangalore past 200</strong> - Preferring to play with three foreigners instead of four, RCB brought Rajat Patidar in place of Australian Daniel Christian.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Indian Premier League 2021 | Chennai, Rajasthan in battle to gain momentum</strong> - The two sides bounced back after losing their opening fixtures with wins, albeit in contrasting styles.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Sheffield United relegated from Premier League</strong> - Sheffield United’s relegation from the Premier League was finally confirmed following its 1-0 defeat at Wolverhampton.The rock-bottom Blades will pl</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Bumrah one of the best death bowlers, makes my job easier: Boult</strong> - “It is always nice being on the right side of those situations.”</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Copa del Rey | Messi nets 2, Barcelona beats Bilbao 4-0 to win the cup</strong> - Lionel Messi scored twice as Barcelona beat Athletic Bilbao 4-0 to win the Copa del Rey final on Saturday, giving Ronald Koeman his first title as coa</p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-the-hindu-national-news">From The Hindu: National News</h1>
<ul>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Let political parties switch to virtual rallies, says Gopalkrishna Gandhi</strong> - Electoral democracy and public health should not be “out of harmony”, he tells E.C.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Coronavirus | PM Modi reviews COVID-19 situation in Varanasi</strong> - PM Modi asked the local administration to help people with full sensitivity and asserted that the cooperation of society as well as the government is necessary to curb the pandemic</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Coronavirus | Bed requirement for COVID-19 patients more than our capacity: Gujarat Dy. CM</strong> - Though we are adding new facilities and beds at regular intervals, it falls short against the demand as the inflow of coronavirus patients is much higher, says Nitin Patel</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Renewable energy key part of India’s growth programmes, says Javadekar</strong> - The Environment Minister says the country contributions towards global emissions are as low as 7%.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Now come seed masks which grow into plants while thrown</strong> - A social entrepreneurship called Paper Seed near Mangaluru has made such masks containing seeds like tulasi and tomato.</p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-bbc-europe">From BBC: Europe</h1>
<ul>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Salisbury poisoning suspects ‘linked to Czech blast’</strong> - The Czech Republic expels 18 Russian diplomats after linking the operatives to a 2014 explosion.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Putin critic Navalny could ‘die within days’, say doctors</strong> - Alexei Navalny is on day 19 of a hunger strike over his medical treatment in a Russian jail.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The Zurich students living cheaply in a luxury hotel</strong> - Students in one of the world’s most expensive cities get stunning views of Zurich in a former business hotel.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Russia retaliates for US diplomatic expulsions</strong> - Moscow expels 10 diplomats and blacklists eight US officials after the US imposed sanctions.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>France Mia kidnapping: Four men held over abduction of girl aged 8</strong> - Mia was taken from her grandmother’s home as part of a plot ordered by her mother, prosecutors say.</p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-ars-technica">From Ars Technica</h1>
<ul>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The humble shrub that’s predicting a terrible fire season</strong> - Chamise is kind of a crystal ball for understanding how badly California might burn. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1757578">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>NASA says its Mars helicopter is ready for a historic first flight</strong> - This is all experimental, so it’s quite possible that Ingenuity will fail. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1757687">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Novel hydrogels can safely remove graffiti from vandalized street art</strong> - Italian chemists successfully tested their hydrogels on actual street art in Florence. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1757011">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>At 38.5% vaccinated, US may be running low on people eager for a shot</strong> - Some worry the country can’t keep up the current pace of vaccination. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1757604">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>DC’s Rorschach: A detective walks into a world shaped by squids and superheroes</strong> - During COVID-19, <em>Rorschach</em> has been something to look forward to each month. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1755546">link</a></p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-jokes-subreddit">From Jokes Subreddit</h1>
<ul>
<li><strong>Can a kangaroo jump higher than the Empire State Building?</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF -->
<div class="md">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Of course! The Empire State Building can’t jump.
</p>
</div>
<!-- SC_ON -->
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/Kang1981"> /u/Kang1981 </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/mt3kw4/can_a_kangaroo_jump_higher_than_the_empire_state/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/mt3kw4/can_a_kangaroo_jump_higher_than_the_empire_state/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
<li><strong>A guy said to God, “God, is it true that to you a billion years is like a second?”</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF -->
<div class="md">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
God said yes.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
The guy said, “God, is it true that to you a billion dollars is like a penny?”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
God said yes.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
The guy said, “God, can I have a penny?”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
God said, “Sure, just a second.”
</p>
</div>
<!-- SC_ON -->
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/JadenYuki15"> /u/JadenYuki15 </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/mt7gy1/a_guy_said_to_god_god_is_it_true_that_to_you_a/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/mt7gy1/a_guy_said_to_god_god_is_it_true_that_to_you_a/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
<li><strong>Barbies promote unrealistic expectations of women’s bodies.</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF -->
<div class="md">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Women’s heads are much harder to put back on in real life.
</p>
</div>
<!-- SC_ON -->
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/Kalsor"> /u/Kalsor </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/mt6kxk/barbies_promote_unrealistic_expectations_of/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/mt6kxk/barbies_promote_unrealistic_expectations_of/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
<li><strong>Scarlett Johansson and some guy were the only survivors of a shipwreck.</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF -->
<div class="md">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
They didn’t know each other before the shipwreck, but he did know who she was…
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
At the beginning it was hard, but as time passed, this guy learnt how to provide food and shelter, he started taking care of her, and eventually she started caring about him… after all, there wasn’t anybody else in the island…
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
He eventually built a cabin, had a functioning automatic potable water supply, and all sorts of little clever commodities, all done to make her life easier… it was the most effort any man had ever done for her, and all the hard work made him fit, she noticed this…
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
One night after some wildlife attacked and he defended her successfully, getting a few cuts in the process, she threw herself at him and they made love, after that, they where for all intents and purposes a couple with an above regular sex life.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
But for some reason he started drifting away, something was bothering him. And she noticed… “What’s wrong?” Scarlett Johansson asked, “Nothing…” the guy would say…
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
She pestered him for a while eventually saying she would do ANYTHING he needed or wanted to make him feel good again, just because she really cared for him a lot, and even if he wasn’t asking, she felt it was the least she owed it to him…
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“Really?, you’ll do anything I’d like?”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“yes” she said “anything!”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“ok, first i want you to take off you toga and get into this pair of work jeans that somehow washed on the shore”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“ok…”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“now put this shirt on please, but first,”tape" your boobs so they are flat"
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“wha… ok, I’d say I’d do anything” she said lovingly.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“ok, now, take this hat and wear it, but tuck your hair under it”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
She was kinda confused, but non the less, she wanted to make him happy, so she tucked her hair under the hat.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“Now id like for you to grab this piece of soot and paint yourself a beard and a mustache”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“ok… if this is what you want…” she muttered.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
“now, please, put on these sunglasses, and start walking down the beach I’ll catch up to you in a bit”, he said a bit excited…
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
She started walking… wondering… doubting herself… just confused about what had just happened, maybe it wasn’t her, maybe it was h… suddenly the guy grabs her by her shoulder turns her around and says: “DUDE!!! you won’t believe who I’ve been fucking for the past 6 months!”
</p>
</div>
<!-- SC_ON -->
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/Miraster"> /u/Miraster </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/msqol3/scarlett_johansson_and_some_guy_were_the_only/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/msqol3/scarlett_johansson_and_some_guy_were_the_only/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
<li><strong>I don’t like over confident people</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF -->
<div class="md">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Edit: Thanks for the silver!
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Edit2: thanks for the gold!
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Edit3: thanks for the platinum!
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Edit4: thanks guys! I never expected this post to blow up like it did!!
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Edit5: thanks for the argentinium!
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Edit6: thanks for the ternium!
</p>
</div>
<!-- SC_ON -->
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/hidde-30"> /u/hidde-30 </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/mstu0k/i_dont_like_over_confident_people/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/mstu0k/i_dont_like_over_confident_people/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
</ul>
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