Local Covid news

The first case of the more-virulent U.K. strain of the virus has been reported in Georgia.

The South, including (obviously) Georgia, is now the nation’s hotspot for the coronavirus.

South Dakota, West Virginia, and the Northeast are currently the farthest along distributing the vaccines.

Shout out to Cobb County pharmacy

Innovation Compounding in Kennesaw is doing what it can to help get the Covid-19 vaccine to as many Georgians as possible. It’s giving drive-through vaccinations and set up a website — vaxgeorgia.com — to take appointments from healthcare workers who are eligible for the vaccine. It’s also getting help from volunteers from Mercer University College of Pharmacy.

“We are honored to help administer vaccines to Georgia’s heroes in health care,” said the pharmacy’s president and CEO — and GPhA member — Shawn Hodges. “The more health care workers we can vaccinate, the faster they can safely return to work and vaccinate our communities.”

Speaking of independent pharmacies….

Across the country other small pharmacies are rising to the challenge of vaccination. As one independent pharmacy owner put it, his whole career has, in a way, led to this point.

“It’s like the Super Bowl, man,” said pharmacist Steven Hoffart. “It was talked up, talked up, talked up. That day is here.”

This is why we can’t have nice things

They said that contact-tracing apps could be used to stop the spread of Covid-19. Privacy concerns? Don’t worry — this is just about the virus, nothing else.

Oopsie: “Singapore’s police now have access to contact tracing data“. Well, so much for getting people to use an app the next time around.

Hot chemo news

Here’s a neat finding out of University College London: If chemotherapy drugs can also heat cancer cells (using magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles and a magnetic field, of course), those drugs are more effective — up to 34 percent more effective, in fact.

[O]nce the nanoparticles have accumulated in the tumour area, an alternating magnetic field can be applied from outside the body, allowing heat and chemotherapy to be delivered simultaneously. The effects of the two treatments were synergistic — that is, each treatment enhanced the effectiveness of the other, meaning they were more potent when combined than when separate.

Brown fat, brown fat, what do you do?

Apparently it can protect people from a variety of cardiac and metabolic disorders, including type 2 diabetes and coronary artery disease. The downside: Most people don’t have much, and it’s not clear anyone can actually get it.

They found that several common and chronic diseases were less prevalent among people with detectable brown fat. For example, only 4.6% had type 2 diabetes, compared with 9.5% of people who did not have detectable brown fat. Similarly, 18.9% of individuals who carried brown fat had abnormal cholesterol, compared with 22.2% of those without brown fat.

A Roadmap for Pharmacy Leaders on the COVID-19 Vaccination Journey

by Phuoc Anne Nguyen PharmD, MS, BCPS and Tracy Nell Dabbs, PharmD, EP Pharmacist

When the COVID-19 vaccines first arrived, there was a lot of excitement and some nervousness among pharmacists. In just 8 short months, we have started to #endCOVID with the initial COVID-19 vaccines and have begun planning to ensure a smooth process. The final goal is to vaccinate as many people as possible. For this article, Tracy and I collaborated to share our two different perspectives.

We want to provide a roadmap for pharmacists leading their COVID-19 vaccination programs. Our hope is to share our lessons learned and strategies to help guide you on your vaccination journey.

Now more than ever, mass immunization will be a healthcare team endeavor to #endCOVID. Close collaboration among interprofessional teams, such as employee health, hospital leadership, supply chain, IT Teams, etc. is the key that will open the door to success! We welcome your comments and invite you to share your lessons learned as well.

We want to provide a roadmap for pharmacists leading their COVID-19 vaccination programs. Our hope is to share our lessons learned and strategies to help guide you on your vaccination journey. READ OUR ARTICLE ON LINKEDIN

The gut biome is at it again

This time it seems that “a few organisms in the gut microbiome play a key role in type 2 diabetes,” according to Oregon State University researchers.

It’s all about glucose metabolism, and there are four type of bacteria that apparently affect it — two for the better (Lactobacillus johnsonii and Lactobacillus gasseri), two for the worse (Romboutsia ilealis and Ruminococcus gnavus).

“Our study reveals potential probiotic strains for treatment of type 2 diabetes and obesity as well as insights into the mechanisms of their action. That means an opportunity to develop targeted therapies rather than attempting to restore ‘healthy’ microbiota in general.”

Don’t worry about your cats

A Covid-19 vaccine for them is on the way, and is expected to be approved later this year. Downside:

[B]ecause the vaccine requires a complex delivery method called electroporation — using a brief pulse of electricity to allow the vaccine to enter cells more easily — it’s likely it will initially only be available at larger clinics with the right tools to administer it.

But do worry* about what’s coming

“U.S. Is Blind to Contagious New Virus Variant, Scientists Warn” — specifically, they’re saying we’re not (yet) equipped to do enough genetic sequencing: “The United States has no large-scale, nationwide system for checking coronavirus genomes for new mutations.”

*But don’t panic