Hey Health Deskers,
This week we’ve got a roundup for you on the latest from COP26, news out of Austria on a lockdown for unvaccinated people, and a new alarm by the WHO on the global insulin access crisis. Our in-house scientists are digging into the recent research on COVID-19 transmission in vaccinated people, what we know about inheriting intelligence from our parents, and tromethamine—the stabilizing agent used in vaccines which some social media posts are, falsely, raising alarm over.
First, a look ahead…
The World Health Organization highlights insulin access
The global health group highlighted barriers to life-saving insulin treatment for the 571 million people worldwide afflicted with diabetes—most of whom live in low- and middle-income countries. Three corporations control 90% of the international insulin market. That enables these companies to sell the medication for much more than it costs to produce. WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus further elaborated: “The scientists who discovered insulin 100 years ago refused to profit from their discovery and sold the patent for just one dollar. “Unfortunately, that gesture of solidarity has been overtaken by a multi-billion-dollar business that has created vast access gaps.” We expect to see the continuation of a global movement to increase insulin access and decrease prices with pressure from international governments and organizations.
Poorer nations face the burden of climate change
The global climate conference COP26 wrapped up in Scotland last week but some of its most important discussions are just getting started. Low-and-middle-income countries face an unprecedented burden of the impacts of climate change, namely tsunamis, famines, droughts, flooding, and other climate-related disasters, caused primarily by richer nations.
For years activists from poorer countries have asked wealthier ones to contribute to a global fund to help with the costs of emergency and disaster response, infrastructure rebuilding, and lifesaving measures. The last COP conference in Paris in 2015 was intended to host negotiations over the issue. Wealthier nations are now trying to avoid committing to these funding mechanisms in order to avoid liability, despite the fact that their carbon emissions are responsible for most climate change impacts. Now Antigua & Barbuda, Tuvalu are taking some of these high-income nations (HICs) to court to seek justice for climate offenses. We expect to see an increased amount of tension between richer and poorer nations as climate change-related events worsen and cause severe devastation primarily in the global South.
Austria to lock down unvaccinated population
In a first for many, Austria has mandated a lockdown for residents who have yet to receive COVID-19 vaccines. The move is a stark departure from the shelter-in-place orders some nations are putting forward against rising infection rates. The act prevents people over 12 from leaving their homes outside of school, working, grocery shopping, walking, or receiving a vaccine. Fears about rising infection and death numbers have caused authorities to recognize the challenges hospital staff currently face, making them potentially unable to handle overburdened emergency rooms filled with virus patients. The 10-day lockdown could see fines issued for up to $1660 USD for anyone violating the orders. About 65% of the country’s population has been vaccinated—one of the lowest rates in Western Europe—so our team believes other countries will follow the same formula, especially in the West.
Now: you asked, we answered. Here are the latest topics our scientists are unpacking for you
What do we know about COVID-19 transmission in vaccinated individuals?
Several recent studies have reached similar conclusions around transmission of COVID-19 among vaccinated individuals:
Individuals who are fully vaccinated transmit the virus less than those who are partially vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals have the highest risk of transmission.
Vaccines are less effective against preventing transmission of the Delta variant, when compared to other variants of COVID-19.
“Vaccines can reduce transmission by preventing infections and reducing the amount of infectious virus in someone’s body if they do get sick. However, the exact rate of transmission among vaccinated individuals (though it is rare) is still uncertain. A lot of cases of infection in vaccinated people do not progress to symptomatic disease, making it harder to know who is sick and collect data on how contagious they may be.”
What do we know about inheriting intelligence from our parents?
Intelligence can be attributed to the overall effect of a multitude of genes passed down from parents, as well as the socio-economic environment in which one grows up.
Genetic research indicates that about half of the differences in intelligence can be attributed to differences in our genetics, but intelligence is also dependent on external factors. The environment, socio-economic, and health conditions can play a big role in our intelligence.
“The genetics of intelligence is a complicated topic. Scientists still do not fully understand it […] Older, outdated research found important intelligence genes on the X-chromosome. Females have two ‘X’ chromosomes (XX) and males have an X and a Y chromosome(XY). While the X-chromosome has been shown to be linked to brain development, that does not equate to intelligence. No recent studies have found key intelligence genes on the X-chromosome explicitly.”
What do we know about tromethamine in COVID-19 vaccines?
Tromethamine, also known as tris buffer, is a stabilizing ingredient used to increase that amount of time that pharmaceutical products can be kept in storage. The Moderna COVID-19 vaccine uses tromethamine as a stabilizer, along with other U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved vaccines and medications (e.g. Ebola vaccine, dengue vaccine, smallpox vaccine, and diabetes medication known as Humalog).
“ This use of tromethamine in approved COVID-19 vaccines is safe. There is no evidence that COVID-19 vaccines with tromethamine cause serious adverse health effects. There is also no evidence that tromethamine was added to “stabilize patients” from any negative health effects of the COVID-19 vaccines. Instead, pharmaceutical companies have repeatedly stated that tromethamine is used to stabilize the vaccine itself and lengthen the time doses can be kept in storage.”
That’s all for this time folks, have a good week and we’ll be back soon with more science to share!