NEIDL in the News
Massachusetts infectious disease doctors say COVID-19 booster plan is too broad
Original article from The Boston Globe By Jonathan Saltzman. August 19, 2021 The Biden administration’s plans to offer a third COVID-19 shot to Americans fully vaccinated with the two-shot regimen starting next month is premature and too broad, according to two Massachusetts infectious-diseases specialists who say the US should donate more... More
Boston Infectious Disease Doctor Says Booster Shot Plan Brings Up Complicated Issues
Original article from WBUR By Lynn Jolicoeur and Jack Lepiarz. August 18, 2021 The rate of breakthrough coronavirus infections among vaccinated people in Massachusetts is on the rise. Nearly 2,700 people who are fully vaccinated tested positive last week. Those account for 40% of new infections during that time period, according to... More
Has COVID taught us anything about pandemic preparedness?
Original article from The Brink By Amy Maxmen. August 13, 2021 Researchers warn that plans to prevent the next global outbreak don’t consider the failures that have fuelled our current predicament. As nations struggle to control the COVID-19 pandemic, scientists warn that deadly outbreaks of other viruses are inevitable. History is clear... More
Myths vs. Facts: Making Sense of COVID-19 Vaccine Misinformation
Original article from The Brink By Doug Most. August 13, 2021 When so much wrong information is readily available, convincing people to get vaccinated has proven to be a huge challenge Myth: pronounced mith; noun; definition: a widely held but false belief or idea; synonyms: misconception, fallacy, fantasy, fiction. Among the many reasons... More
Why Is It Taking So Long to Get Vaccines for Kids?
Original article from The Atlantic By Rachel Gutman. August 11, 2021 A few things still need to happen before the shots can be authorized for Americans younger than 12. The timing of the latest COVID-19 surge isn’t great for children. Millions have already started the school year, the rest will do so... More
Ask The Doctors: Delta Surging, Mandates
Original article from WBUR by Jamie Bologna & Chris Citorik. August 10, 2021 The Boston Teachers Union is now calling for requiring vaccines for teachers and staff in all Boston Public Schools. And because of the high rate of spread here in the Commonwealth, the CDC is now suggesting every county... More
Why Global COVID Vaccinations Are Dangerously Lagging: Six Things to Know
Original article from The Brink by Kat J. McAlpine. July 23, 2021 As Delta variant spreads rapidly, BU-led panel explains why vaccination rollout isn’t keeping pace As the United States flounders to meet its coronavirus vaccine targets—only 49 percent of Americans are fully vaccinated to date—the especially contagious Delta variant has the... More
What COVID-19 revealed about preventing pandemic influenza
Original article from Nature by Michael Eisenstein. July 21, 2021 COVID-19 vaccines arrived faster than any before. This success story offers lessons for producing vaccines that could save millions from pandemic influenza. In early December 2020, Margaret Keenan became the first in the world to receive an approved COVID-19 jab. No previous... More
MSNBC: The 11th Hour with Brian Williams; Interview with Dr. Bhadelia
Original article from MSNBC by Brian Williams. July 15, 2021 [23:43:19] RUHLE: We`re following important developments on the pandemic tonight. Los Angeles County will reinstate indoor mask mandates, regardless of vaccine status as the highly contagious Delta variants triggers more cases. Well, back here in the east, the Yankees postponed their game... More
We work with dangerous pathogens in a downtown Boston biocontainment lab – here’s why you can feel safe about our research
Original article from The Conversation by Ronald Corley. July 14, 2021 Microbiologist Ronald Corley has gone to work every day throughout the pandemic as director of the National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratories. Within this secure lab facility in Boston, scientists study pathogens as diverse as tuberculosis, Ebola virus, yellow fever virus... More
Navigating Vaccine Requirements for International Students
Original article from Inside Higher Ed by Elizabeth Redden. July 6, 2021 What foreign COVID vaccines should colleges accept? What protocols should be in place for international students who weren't able to be vaccinated at home prior to coming to campus? AstraZeneca or Moderna? Sinopharm or Sputnik? For the more than 500 American... More
Study Reveals Recipe for Even More Powerful COVID-19 Vaccines
Original article from The Brink by Kat J. McAlpine. June 11, 2021 NEIDL, Broad scientists say next-generation vaccines could stimulate another arm of the immune system, imparting better protection against coronavirus variants A new study looking at the way human cells activate the immune system in response to SARS-CoV-2 infection could open... More
‘Concerning’ Delta COVID Variant Has Been Spreading in Mass. Since April: Expert
Original article from NBC 10 Boston by Mary Markos. June 9, 2021 As of early June, the Delta variant accounted for about 7% of positive samples that have been sequenced in Massachusetts The more contagious Delta COVID-19 variant, first identified in India, has been in Massachusetts for weeks now and is steadily... More
To the Bat Cave: In Search of Covid’s Origins, Scientists Reignite Polarizing Debate on Wuhan ‘Lab Leak’
Original article from California Healthline by Arthur Allen. May 19, 2021 Once dismissed as a conspiracy theory, the idea that the covid virus escaped from a Chinese lab is gaining high-profile attention. As it does, reputations of renowned scientists are at risk — and so is their personal safety. At the center... More
Nahid Bhadelia to Head New BU Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases
Original article from BU Today by Doug Most. May 18, 2021 Will connect policy with research and use lessons from Ebola and COVID to prepare lawmakers and the public for next crisis The first-floor classroom is empty inside the Boston University School of Medicine on a gray and chilly May morning in... More
Boston Epidemiologist Reacts To CDC Dropping Mask Mandate For Vaccinated People (Interview with Dr. Hamer)
Original article from WBUR CommonHealth by Bob Oakes. May 14, 2021 President Biden on Thursday announced that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now says fully vaccinated people can stop wearing masks outdoors and in most indoor settings. CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky says there are a few exceptions when it... More
Will Mass. achieve herd immunity against the coronavirus pandemic? Maybe, experts say, but it could be difficult
Original article from The Boston Globe by Martin Finucane and Felice J. Freyer. May 5, 2021 Massachusetts’ coronavirus vaccination campaign has been among the most successful in the country, with 57.3 percent of residents — 3.9 million people — having received at least a first shot of the vaccines as of... More
COVID-19 Vaccines and Variants Explained (video)
Original article from The Brink by Devin Hahn. April 14, 2021 In this video, BU public health experts discuss the future of the pandemic as vaccines ramp up while viral variants become more prevalent Over 50 million Americans have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, yet even as more and more people roll... More
Experts and advocates urge greater equity in distributing doses
Original article from The Boston Globe by John Hilliard. April 18, 2021 As everyone in Massachusetts 16 or older becomes eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine Monday, health officials cautioned the state must do more to deliver doses to communities of color, which have been disproportionately hit by the pandemic. With appointments open... More
Pausing J&J Vaccine Rollout Is a Move to Keep Public Trust (Interview w/ Florian Douam)
Original article from The Brink by Kat McAlpine. April 14, 2021 In this Q&A, a BU vaccine researcher says it’s the right course, but that the vaccine’s benefits “without doubt outweigh the risks” On Tuesday, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommended that states pause their rollout of the... More