Monoclonal antibody therapy once hailed as 100 per cent effective in stopping Covid-19 in its tracks, has been defeated by the new super mutant Omicron variant of the coronavirus, according to an international study involving researchers from the US, Japan, and Switzerland. Monoclonal antibodies are proteins designed to attach to a specific target, in this case the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2, which the virus uses to enter human cells. Several studies have shown that monoclonal antibody therapy can stop Covid infection's progression to ICU admissions and death.The cocktail therapy shot to fame after it was used to treat then US President Donald Trump last October. It was also approved by the US Food and Drug Administration in November last year, and even by the Central Drugs Standards Control Organisation (CDSCO) for use in India in May 2021.

https://www.indiatvnews.com/health/omicron-renders-most-monoclonal-antibody-therapy-ineffective-study-750653

Is Lotus Comms?

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — The band Lotus has cancelled two of its concerts it was set to play here locally in the Pittsburgh area.

The shows were scheduled to be played at Mr. Smalls Theatre in Millvale on Thursday and Friday.

The cancellation comes due to someone in the group testing positive for COVID-19.

The band’s traditional New Year shows will have to be postponed until 2022.

https://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2021/12/28/lotus-cancels-two-concerts-due-to-covid-19-issues/

NEW DELHI — India has blocked a charity founded by Mother Teresa from accepting foreign donations for its humanitarian work.

It was not made clear why the government refused on Monday to renew the license of the organization, the Missionaries of Charity, under the country’s Foreign Contribution Regulation Act. The group can appeal, but for now, a major source of funding has been cut off.

The news came around a tense Christmas time, when churches have been vandalized and celebrations interrupted by hundreds of right-wing Hindus across the country.

The rise in attacks on Christians, who make up about 2 percent of India’s population, is part of a broader shift in which religious minorities feel less safe. Anti-Christian vigilantes are sweeping through villages, storming churches, burning Christian literature, attacking schools and assaulting worshipers. Right-wing Hindus have confronted Muslims during Friday prayers in the northern state of Haryana in recent months.

At a conference last week, hundreds of right-wing Hindu monks openly called for Muslims to be killed, in their quest to turn India, constitutionally a secular republic, into a Hindu nation.

In October, Prime Minister Narendra Modi invited Pope Francis to visit India, home to one of Asia’s oldest and largest Christian populations. But it remains to be seen if the government’s latest move to cut off the Christian charity’s foreign funding will complicate that invitation.

Under Mr. Modi’s government, India has also been tightening rules on foreign funding of nongovernmental organizations. It has placed restrictions on many Christian and Muslim nonprofits and put others on a watch list for violating Indian laws, especially the laws concerning religious conversions.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/28/world/asia/india-mother-teresa-charity-crackdown.html

Dr. Peter Hotez, a pediatrician at Texas Children's Hospital, developed the Corbevax vaccine alongside Baylor College professor Dr. Maria Elena Bottazzi, a press release from the children's hospital said.

"This announcement is an important first step in vaccinating the world and halting the pandemic," Hotez said.

The vaccine, which the developers called the "World's COVID-19 Vaccine," uses a traditional recombinant protein-based technology, which would allow it to be mass-produced and used across the globe.

"Protein-based vaccines have been widely used to prevent many other diseases, have proven safety records, and use economies of scale to achieve low-cost scalability across the world," Bottazzi said.

According to the press release, the vaccine's initial construct and production was developed at Texas Children's Hospital and then licensed from the Baylor College of Medicine to Biological E. Limited, a Hyderabad-based vaccine, and pharmaceutical company.

Hotez said in a tweet that Biological E. already has 150 million doses ready and will be making 100 million doses a month.

https://www.businessinsider.com/india-approves-use-of-covid-19-vaccine-developed-texas-doctor-2021-12