COVID-19 Timeline: July 2022
January 5, 2023
At Bioethics.com we have kept up with the spread of COVID-19 and the related bioethical questions that this pandemic brings. The posts that follow highlight news from July 2022 and were originally posted at Bioethics.com. These posts focus on the bioethical issues that medical professionals, bioethicists, public health officials, and scientists grappled with as SARS-CoV-2 swept the globe.
Jul 1: “COVID-19 Variant Boosters Won’t Need New Clinical Trials for Clearance, FDA Says” by Nicole Westman, The Verge
The agency will use clinical trials of variant-specific boosters developed earlier in the pandemic, manufacturing data, and animal studies to evaluate the shots.
July 5: “For Now, Wary US Treads Waters with Transformed COVID-19” by Carla K. Johnson, Associated Press,
The fast-changing coronavirus has kicked off summer in the U.S. with lots of infections but relatively few deaths compared to its prior incarnations. COVID-19 is still killing hundreds of Americans each day, but is not nearly as dangerous as it was last fall and winter.
Jul 6: “Shanghai Revives Mass Testing as Cases Slip Through China’s Covid Amor” by Natasha Khan, Wall Street Journal
Barely a month after emerging from a two-month lockdown, Shanghai residents were reminded that their battle against Covid-19 isn’t over when authorities ordered a new round of mass testing for more than half the city’s districts after 24 new cases were found.
Jul 6: “U.S. Maternal Deaths Spiked Upwards During Pandemic” by Cara Murez, U.S. News & World Report
Death rates for U.S. pregnant women or those who had just delivered jumped sharply during the first year of the pandemic, new research shows.
Jul 7: “US Allows Pharmacists to Prescribe Pfizer’s COVID-19 Pill” by Matthew Perrone and Tom Murphy, Associated Press
The Food and Drug Administration said pharmacists can begin screening patients to see if they are eligible for Paxlovid and then prescribe the medication, which has been shown to curb the worst effects of COVID-19. Previously only physicians could prescribe the antiviral drug.
Jul 7: “Doctors Are Clamoring for More Clarity on Paxlovid Prescribing Amid Covid-19 Rebound Concerns” by Edward Chen, STAT News
Six months after regulators issued an emergency use authorization for Paxlovid, physicians say they still have significant questions about prescribing guidelines for the leading treatment for high-risk Covid patients.
Jul 8: “The Summer of Subvariants” by Tina Reed, Axios
This subvariant of Omicron called BA.5 — the most transmissible subvariant yet — quickly overtook previous strains to become the dominant version circulating the U.S. and much of the world. BA.5 is so transmissible — and different enough from previous versions — that even those with immunity from prior Omicron infections may not have to wait long before falling ill again.
Jul 8: “COVID Variants Found in Sewage Weeks Before Showing Up in Tests” by Smriti Mallapaty, Nature
For the first time, scientists have been able to detect specific variants of SARS-CoV-2 in sewage weeks before they were showing up in testing clinics.
Jul 11: “Three Cities in China Impose Partial Lockdowns as New Cases Are Reported.” by Tiffany May and Zixu Wang, New York Times
In mainland China, the cities of Xi’an, Lanzhou and Haikou imposed partial lockdowns, closing nonessential businesses and enforcing mass testing, setting restrictions on several million residents.
Jul 12: “Hopes of Covid-19 Reprieve Fade as BA.5 Subvariant Takes Over” by Jon Kamp and Jared S. Hopkins, Wall Street Journal
Covid-19 is circulating widely as the BA.5 Omicron subvariant elevates the risk of reinfections and rising case counts, spoiling chances for a summer reprieve from the pandemic across much of the U.S. Covid-19 levels are high in a fifth of U.S. counties, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s metric based on case and hospital data, a share that has been mostly rising since mid-April.
Jul 12: “Covid Hospitalizations Double Since May, Driven by BA.5” by Erika Edwards, NBC News
An NBC News analysis found that Covid-related hospitalizations are up in all but four states, with the biggest recent jumps in the South.
Jul 14: “US Regulators OK New COVID-19 Shot Option from Novavax” by Lauran Neergaard, Associated Press
The U.S. is getting another COVID-19 vaccine choice as the Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday [July 13] cleared Novavax shots for adults.
Jul 14: “One Coronavirus Infection Wards Off Another—But Only If It’s a Similar Variant” by McKenzie Prillaman, Nature
Natural immunity induced by infection with SARS-CoV-2 provides a strong shield against reinfection by a pre-Omicron variant for 16 months or longer, according to a study. This protection against catching the virus dwindles over time, but immunity triggered by previous infection also thwarts the development of severe COVID-19 symptoms — and this safeguard shows no signs of waning.
Jul 14: “The BA.5 Wave Is What COVID Normal Looks Like” The Atlantic
After two-plus years of erupting into distinguishable peaks, the American coronavirus-case curve has a new topography: a long, never-ending plateau.
Jul 18: “Covid Rises Across U.S. Amid Muted Warnings and Murky Data” by Julie Bosman, Thomas Fuller and Edgar Sandoval, New York Times
Covid-19 is surging around the United States again in what experts consider the most transmissible variant of the pandemic yet. But something is different this time: The public health authorities are holding back.
Jul 19: “A Fourth Covid Vaccine is Cleared for Use in the United States” by Rebecca Robbins and Carl Zimmer, New York Times
The independent experts, who advise the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on its vaccine policies, are meeting Tuesday [July 19] and are scheduled to vote on whether to endorse Novavax’s latecomer vaccine.
Jul 19: “Catching Covid Raises Diabetes Diagnosis Risk for Weeks, Study Finds” by Ian Sample, The Guardian
People who catch Covid-19 have a greater risk of being diagnosed with diabetes and cardiovascular conditions for weeks after the infection has taken hold, according to a major UK study.
Jul 19: “WA Hospitals Over Capacity Due to Patient Discharging Woes” Associated Press
In a news briefing, leaders from the Washington State Hospital Association said many health care facilities are 120% to 130% full, leading to long wait times in emergency departments, declining patient care and disruptions in ambulance services throughout the state, The Seattle Times reported.
Jul 20: “Covid-19 Complication Among Children Fades in Latest Wave of Virus” by Denise Roland, Wall Street Journal
A serious inflammatory complication that strikes some children in the weeks following a Covid-19 infection has almost disappeared.
Jul 21: “President Biden Tests Positive for Covid-19, But Has ‘Very Mild Symptoms’” by Andrew Joseph, STAT News
Pesident Biden tested positive for Covid-19 Thursday [July 21] — a coronavirus case that reflects both the high ongoing levels of transmission of the virus and its ability to cause infections even in people who have layers of protection. Biden, 79, has “very mild symptoms” and has started taking the antiviral Paxlovid, the White House said. He is isolating.
Jul 22: “The Pandemic Isn’t Over, But Most of U.S. States Formally Say That It’s No Longer a Health Emergency” by Adeel Hassan, New York Times
By Monday [July 18], fewer than a dozen states will have emergency declarations in place, according to the National Academy for State Health Policy. States have let the declarations expire even though the Omicron subvariant known as BA.5, perhaps the most transmissible coronavirus subvariant yet, is pushing up positive tests, hospitalizations and intensive care admissions across the country.
Jul 25: “Think You’ve Never Had Covid-19? Thank Again” by Julie Wernau, Wall Street Journal
For many, the explanation is likely that they have in fact been infected with the virus at some point without realizing it, said Susan Kline, professor of medicine at the University of Minnesota Medical School.
Jul 26: “The Email No Parents Want to Get This Summer: Camp Is Cancelled” by Alex Janin, Wall Street Journal
Nearly all camps across the country are dealing with rising cases in some way this summer as the highly transmissible BA.5 Omicron subvariant circulates, camp directors and industry groups say. For many, the issue is staffing.
Jul 27: “Wuhan Market Pinpointed as Pandemic’s Ground Zero” by Adriel Bettelheim, Axios
A market in Wuhan, China, was the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the virus emerged from activities connected with the live animal trade, according to research published in Science on Tuesday.
Jul 28: “In Rural America, Covid Hits Black and Hispanic People Hardest” by Benjamin Mueller, New York Times
The coronavirus pandemic walloped rural America last year, precipitating a surge of deaths among white residents as the virus inflamed longstanding health deficits there. But across the small towns and farmlands, new research has found, Covid killed Black and Hispanic people at considerably higher rates than it did their white neighbors.
Jul 28: “China’s Wuhan Locks Down District with One Million People” by Dan Strumpft and Keith Zhai, Wall Street Journal
Wuhan, the central Chinese city that was the epicenter of the early Covid-19 outbreak, locked down a district of about 1 million people due to four asymptomatic cases, as the nation’s leaders maintain their zero tolerance toward the virus, a policy that has cast a shadow over both the national and global economies.
Jul 29: “US Rules Out Summer COVID Boosters to Focus on Fall Campaign” by Matthew Perrone and Lauran Neergaard, Associated Press
The Biden administration said Friday it has reached an agreement with Moderna to buy 66 million doses of the company’s next generation of COVID-19 vaccine that targets the highly transmissible omicron variant, enough supply this winter for all who want the upgraded booster.
