TRACKING EMERGING VIRUSES – August 8, 2025 – COVID
“It’s been five years since the start of the Covid pandemic. Although most of the government mandates, from social distancing to face masks, have been consigned to the past, the virus is still prevalent – and capable of causing real harm.
Although it was initially forecast to become a seasonal illness, the virus is on the rise in the US – making it far from the common-cold-style winter illness that was expected.
Experts said a lot of predictions made about how Covid-19 would evolve have turned out to be wrong. Five years on, what do we know about the virus?” (10)
“Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has canceled nearly $500 million of grants and contracts for developing mRNA vaccines, the Department of Health and Human Services announced on Tuesday.
It is the latest blow to research on this technology. In May, the Department of Health and Human Services revoked a nearly $600 million contract to the drugmaker Moderna to develop a vaccine against bird flu.”
“First used during the Covid-19 pandemic by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, mRNA shots instruct the body to produce a fragment of a virus, which then sets off the body’s immune response.
Unlike traditional vaccines, which can take years to develop and test, mRNA shots can be made within months and quickly altered as the virus changes. The technology won a Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2023.” (1)
“In addition, a new policy requires all updated COVID-19 vaccines to undergo extensive placebo-controlled clinical trials, as if it were a new shot rather than an update to one that already exists.” (4)
“The health secretary has expressed doubts about childhood vaccines, including those against polio and measles, that have been the mainstay of childhood immunizations for decades. He has described the Covid shot as “the deadliest vaccine ever made.”
Under his leadership, the Food and Drug Administration restricted access to the Covid vaccines for healthy pregnant women and children. And on Tuesday, he canceled nearly $500 million of grants and contracts for work on mRNA vaccines, the technology that helped turn the tide against the coronavirus.”
“Current and former federal officials, like many scientists, support some aspects of Mr. Kennedy’s Make America Healthy Again agenda. They generally agree with him that ultraprocessed foods, pesticides and food dyes are harmful, and that Americans are facing epidemics of obesity, diabetes and heart disease.
But on immunizations, Mr. Kennedy has left behind the mainstream, siding with the more extreme wing of the anti-vaccine movement.” (11)
“COVID-19 hasn’t disappeared, but thanks to mRNA vaccines and our growing immune memory, it’s far less deadly than it was in 2020.
Despite the claims of high-profile figures like RFK Jr, mRNA vaccines do not cause viruses to mutate. Mutations are part of viral evolution: a natural process that happens regardless of our intervention.
What vaccines do is give us a fighting chance. They’ve saved millions of lives by reducing severe illness, hospitalisations and death. They remain one of the most powerful tools we have in the ongoing battle against infectious disease. (12)
‘A new COVID variant is climbing the ranks in the U.S., becoming the third-most common strain of the summer.
“Variant XFG, colloquially known as “Stratus,” was first detected in Southeast Asia in January but accounted for less than about 0% of cases in the United States until May. By late June, it was estimated to account for up to 14%, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).”
“The variant’s mutations may enhance XFG’s ability to evade immune responses, but its binding behavior shows that it is less likely to be highly contagious than other dominant variants, Subhash Verma, microbiology and immunology professor at the University of Nevada, Reno, told USA TODAY.
“There is currently no clear evidence that XFG causes more severe disease or significantly different symptoms than earlier Omicron variants,” said Verma. “Importantly, there are no immediate public health concerns associated with this variant.”” (2)
“Covid is on the rise again in the US, as children begin returning to school and as officials plan to restrict booster shots.
While cases are increasing less quickly than at the start of other surges, it is too soon to tell how big the current late-summer wave could get – and with highly varied immune responses from prior infections and vaccinations, it is difficult to know how severe illness could be, experts said.
The risks of a wave are compounded by new vaccine restrictions from the Trump administration.”
“Health officials have also called for placebo trials for the boosters to judge their benefit to people without pre-existing conditions – but such trials would be unethical and extremely difficult to conduct, experts say.
“Clearly, the guidelines right now are focused on the populations that are more prone to have severe disease and severe outcomes. It’s always been good to vaccinate that population,” Pekosz said.
But the Trump administration is moving away from the approach of immunizing broad swaths of the population – especially those most likely to get and pass the virus on, like children, he said.
“If you vaccinate broadly, you can reduce the spread of Covid-19 in the population,” Pekosz said. “The benefit, to me, is very clearly on the side of getting vaccinated.”” (3)
“A major international study has revealed a troubling surge in gut-brain disorders like IBS and functional dyspepsia since the COVID-19 pandemic.
Using consistent diagnostic tools to compare pre- and post-pandemic populations, researchers found that these conditions are now significantly more common—especially among people with long COVID, who also report higher levels of anxiety and depression.
A recent global study has identified a notable increase in gut-brain interaction disorders, such as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and functional dyspepsia, following the COVID-19 pandemic. The findings were published in Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology.” (5)
“Nearly 6 of 10 vaccine-eligible US children hospitalized for COVID-19 from 2022 to 2024 had at least one underlying medical condition, and less than 4% were current with their vaccinations, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)-led researchers reported late last week in Pediatrics.
The studied outcomes were intensive care unit (ICU) admission, need for mechanical ventilation, use of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, and in-hospital death.”
“”Although most SARS-CoV-2 infections in children are mild, children can have severe outcomes from COVID-19,” the researchers wrote. “Virus variants and population immunity have changed over time; thus, it is important to understand risk factors for severe disease.”” (6)
“What used to be straightforward is now much murkier. Last year, the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech Covid vaccines were recommended for anyone at least 6 months old.
This year, the recommendation by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is narrower. Although the vaccines are broadly recommended for adults 19 and older, they are no longer recommended for healthy pregnant people or for healthy children 6 months through 17 years old.”
“Moderna announced July 10 that the Food and Drug Administration had fully approved its Spikevax Covid vaccine — but approval is restricted to adults 65 and older, and for people from 6 months through 64 years old who are at increased risk of developing a serious case of Covid.
Two other Covid vaccines expected to be available this fall, Novavax’s Nuvaxovid and Moderna’s mNexspike, are also restricted. They are approved for people 65 or older and those 12 to 64 who have underlying health conditions that put them at higher risk of developing severe Covid.
Notably, Pfizer’s Comirnaty Covid vaccine is still approved or authorized for people 6 months of age and older without any restrictions based on risk factors for Covid — at least for now. But the FDA could change that at any time, experts said.” (8)
“A lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on Thursday alleges the Mayo Clinic violated federal law when it refused a security guard’s request to be exempt from getting the COVID-19 vaccine due to his religious beliefs.
Mayo implemented a mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policy around Oct. 13, 2021, which required all of its employees to receive the vaccine by Dec. 3, 2021, unless they received a medical or religious exemption, according to the court document. Anyone who didn’t follow the policy would be terminated.”
“The clinic issued a final written warning to the security guard on Dec. 3, saying he would be terminated if he did not receive the vaccine by January 2022.
The EEOC alleges Mayo violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits companies from discriminating against employees based on religion. The federal agency is seeking monetary damages, though it’s unclear how much.
According to the lawsuit, the EEOC is also asking Mayo to implement policies and programs that “provide equal employment opportunities for religious persons.”” (9)
“Taking all this together: This implied notion that Sweden’s experience proves lockdowns were pointless, we could have largely ignored the pandemic, and overall deaths would have gone down is certainly provocative, but it’s utter nonsense. Aside from the above, we already know what happened when COVID was allowed to run wild in a country without any of Sweden’s advantages. That was what unfolded in Peru, a weak state with a rickety hospital system that was unable to implement its attempted lockdown. It was a charnel house, with about 220,000 official COVID deaths—almost three times the rate of Sweden, or more than seven times that of New Zealand—and that is almost certainly a large underestimate.” (7)
1.Kennedy Cancels Nearly $500 Million in mRNA Vaccine Contracts, By Apoorva Mandavilli, https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/05/health/rfk-jr-vaccine-funding.html
2.New COVID variant ‘Stratus’ is spreading in the U.S. and worldwide: What are the symptoms?, by Mary Walrath-Holdridge, https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/health/2025/08/05/new-covid-variant-stratus-xfg-symptoms-what-to-know/85532518007/
3.Covid cases rising in US as officials plan to restrict booster vaccines, by Melody Schreiber, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/aug/05/us-covid-cases-rising
4.Where the summer COVID-19 infections are hitting hardest, by Nathaniel Weixel, https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/5435181-covid-19-emergency-visits-increase/
5.Why Your Gut Hasn’t Been the Same Since COVID, By American Gastroenterological Association, https://scitechdaily.com/why-your-gut-hasnt-been-the-same-since-covid/
6.Most US kids hospitalized for COVID had chronic illnesses; less than 4% were vaccinated, by Mary Van Beusekom, https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/most-us-kids-hospitalized-covid-had-chronic-illnesses-less-4-were-vaccinated
7.COVID Contrarians Are Wrong About Sweden, by Ryan Cooper August 1, 2025, https://prospect.org/health/2025-08-01-covid-contrarians-are-wrong-about-sweden/
8.Will health insurance pay for Covid vaccines this fall?, By Michelle Andrews, https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/will-health-insurance-pay-covid-vaccines-fall-rcna222248
9.Mayo Clinic refused employee’s COVID-19 vaccine exemption request, lawsuit says, By Nick Lentz, https://www.cbsnews.com/minnesota/news/mayo-clinic-eeoc-lawsuit-covid-vaccine-religion/
10.What do we know about the Covid-19 virus five years on?, by Rachel Hall, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/aug/07/what-do-we-know-about-the-covid-19-virus-five-years-on
11.On Vaccines, Kennedy Has Broken Sharply With the Mainstream, By Apoorva Mandavilli, https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/07/health/kennedy-vaccines-mrna-trump.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare
12.RFK Jr is wrong about mRNA vaccines – a scientist explains how they make COVID less deadly, https://theconversation.com/rfk-jr-is-wrong-about-mrna-vaccines-a-scientist-explains-how-they-make-covid-less-deadly-262776