COVID-19 Timeline: October 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 October 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.
Oct 5: “100,000 Coronavirus Genomes Reveal COVID’s Evolution in Africa” by Diana Kwon, Nature
Now an analysis details how the rapid growth in Africa’s sequencing capacity has aided global SARS-CoV-2 surveillance. It also reveals that most variants were imported into Africa more often than they were exported from the continent.
Oct 7: “Covid Defies China’s Lockdowns, Creating Chaos Ahead of Top Meeting” by John Liu, New York Times
But Chinese authorities are under immense pressure to ensure that nothing disrupts the party congress, which starts Oct. 16. They have responded by ramping up restrictions that many already deem excessive. They are locking down regions and cities and mandating mass testing and quarantines, disrupting life for millions of people and drawing public complaints.
Oct 7: “From BQ.1.1 to XBB and Beyond: How the Splintering of Omicron Variants Could Shape Covid’s Next Phase” by Andrew Joseph, STAT News
What’s different, at least for now, is that there’s not one variant pushing the wave. Rather, scientists are tracking a bevy of new forms of Omicron, which are jockeying with each other as they compete to become the next dominant strain.
Oct 7: “China’s Vast Xinjiang Hit with COVID-19 Travel Restrictions” Associated Press
Trains and buses in and out of the region of 22 million people have been suspended, and passenger numbers on flights have been reduced to 75% of capacity in recent days, according to Chinese media reports.
Oct 7: “CDC Ends Daily Reporting of COVID Case and Death Data, in Shift to Weekly Updates” by Alexander Tin, CBS News
After more than two years of publishing data on COVID-19 cases and deaths on a daily basis, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Thursday [October 6] it would shift to weekly updates to its nationwide tracking of the virus.
Oct 10: “China Imposes Lockdowns as COVID-19 Surges After Holiday” Associated Press
Chinese cities were imposing fresh lockdowns and travel restrictions after the number of new daily COVID-19 cases tripled during a weeklong holiday, ahead of a major Communist Party meeting in Beijing next week.
Oct 13: “Europe Likely Entering Another COVID Wave, Says WHO and ECDC” Reuters
Another wave of COVID-19 infections may have begun in Europe as cases begin to tick up across the region, the World Health Organization and European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) said on Wednesday.
Oct 13: “Nearly Half of Covid Patients Haven’t Fully Recovered Months Later, Study Finds” by Benjamin Mueller, New York Times
A study of tens of thousands of people in Scotland found that one in 20 people who had been sick with Covid reported not recovering at all, and another four in 10 said they had not fully recovered from their infections many months later.
Oct 13: “Indonesia Launches Its First Home-Grown COVID-19 Vaccines” by Niniek Karmini, Associated Press
President Joko Widodo announced the vaccine brand, IndoVac, as a new milestone of Indonesia’s pharmaceutical industry that will manufacture primary series vaccines, booster vaccines and vaccines for children, which have been in development since November 2021.
Oct 13: “FDA Authorizes Updated Covid-19 Boosters for Kids as Young as 5” by Andrew Joseph, STAT News
The Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday authorized updated Covid-19 boosters for kids as young as 5.
Oct 17: “Many Americans Ignore Covid Boosters as Winter, Variants Loom” by Stephanie Armour, Wall Street Journal
Yet 7.6 million people in the U.S. got the shots in the four weeks after they were cleared for use, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. By contrast, 13 million people got at least one dose during the first month of the U.S. Covid-19 vaccination program after authorizations in December 2021, though supplies were limited, according to the CDC.
Oct 17: “The COVID Data That Are Actually Useful Now” The Atlantic
Using newer data sources, such as wastewater surveillance and population surveys, experts have already noticed potential signals of a fall surge: Official case counts are trending down across the U.S., but Northeast cities such as Boston are seeing more coronavirus in their wastewater, and the CDC reports that this region is a hot spot for further-mutated versions of the Omicron variant.
Oct 18: “Biden Officials Search for Backup for Key Covid Therapy for Immunocompromised People” by Sarah Owermohle, STAT News
AstraZeneca’s Evusheld, the only monoclonal antibody authorized as a periodic injection to prevent infection, has become an essential shot for roughly 17,000 Americans with weakened immune systems. But news this month that it is not effective against a steadily climbing coronavirus strain sent health officials racing to game out other antibody options and convene a meeting with patient groups.
Oct 19: “Heart Risks, Data Gaps Fuel Debate Over COVID-19 Boosters for Young People” by Jennifer Couzin-Frankel, Science
Nearly all urge vaccinating young people with the first two vaccine doses, but the case for boosters is more complicated. A key problem is that their benefits are unknown for the age group at highest risk of myocarditis, who are at lower risk of severe COVID-19 and other complications than older adults.
Oct 19: “FDA Authorizes Booster Shot for Novavax’s Covid-19 Vaccine” by Helen Branswell, STAT News
The Food and Drug Administration announced Wednesday that it has authorized a booster shot for Novavax’s Covid-19 vaccine. Unlike the latest boosters from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, which target both the original strain of SARS-CoV-2 and the Omicron BA.4/5 variants, the Novavax booster only targets the original strain.
Oct 20: “COVID-19 Linked to Increase in US Pregnancy-Related Deaths” by Amanda Seitz, Associated Press
COVID-19 drove a dramatic increase in the number of women who died from pregnancy or childbirth complications in the U.S. last year, a crisis that has disproportionately claimed Black and Hispanic women as victims, according to a government report released Wednesday [October 19].
Oct 20: “Panel Votes to Add COVID Shots to Recommended Vaccinations” by Mike Stobbe, Associated Press
The panel’s unanimous decision has no immediate effect — COVID-19 shots already are recommended for virtually all Americans. Rather, it would put the shots on the annually updated, formal lists of what vaccinations doctors should be routinely offering to their patients, alongside shots for polio, measles and hepatitis.
Oct 24: “A ‘Tripledemic’? Flu, R.S.V and Covid May Collide This Winter, Experts Say” by Apoorva Mandavilli, New York Times
With few to no restrictions in place and travel and socializing back in full swing, an expected winter rise in Covid cases appears poised to collide with a resurgent influenza season, causing a “twindemic” — or even a “tripledemic,” with a third pathogen, respiratory syncytial virus, or R.S.V., in the mix.
Oct 25: “Men Died from Covid-19 at Much Higher Rate Than Women in Pandemic’s First Year” by Talal Ansari and Jennifer Calfas, Wall Street Journal
Men died of complications from Covid-19 at a higher rate than women in both rural and urban parts of the U.S. during the first year of the pandemic, according to a new federal report.
Oct 27: “Afraid of Needles? China Using Inhalable COVID-19 Vaccine” by Ken Moritsugu, Associated Press
The Chinese city of Shanghai started administering an inhalable COVID-19 vaccine on Wednesday [October 26] in what appears to be a world first. The vaccine, a mist that is sucked in through the mouth, is being offered for free as a booster dose for previously vaccinated people, according to an announcement on an official city social media account.
Oct 28: “Shanghai District Orders Mass COVID-19 Testing, Lockdown” Associated Press
China’s largest city of Shanghai is ordering mass testing Friday of all 1.3 million residents of its downtown Yangpu district and confining them to their homes at least until results are known.
Oct 31: “COVID ‘Variant Soup’ Is Making Winter Surges Hard to Predict” by Ewen Callaway, Nature
The swarm has helped scientists to pinpoint a handful of immunity-evading mutations that power a variant’s spread. Globally, a few heavyweight variants have emerged, yielding different outcomes in different regions — at least, so far.
