Three things for October 7
1. W.H.O. approves world’s first malaria vaccine
The World Health Organization spends approximately 3 billion dollars per year combating malaria across the globe, with 94% of cases and deaths occurring in the African region.
Out of the 229 million malaria cases worldwide in 2019, there were an estimated 409 thousand deaths. Thousand Of these deaths 274 or 67% were in children under five years of age.
The fight against malaria changed today as W.H.O approved the world’s first vaccine for the disease.
“The new vaccine, made by GlaxoSmithKline, rouses a child’s immune system to thwart Plasmodium falciparum, the deadliest of five malaria pathogens and the most prevalent in Africa,” reports the New York Times.
2. Scientists now believe genetics may contribute to a patients’ COVID-19 outcome
The groups of people who are the most at risk from Covid-19 have changed throughout the pandemic as scientists across the globe come to better understand the virus and its variants. Age is one of the more prominent factors focused on, with people who are 85 and older being 570 times more likely to die from COVID-19.
The Center for Disease Control also compiled a list of 29 conditions that increase the risk for severe symptoms from Covid-19.
Scientists now believe they have started to find genetic links to how severely COVID-19 affects a person. A recent study and paper found specific genes increase the body’s ability to fight COVID-19.
3. Senate lawmakers get closer to debt ceiling agreement
As the deadline for the Senate to reach an agreement to lift the United States’ debt ceiling closes in, now just 12 days away, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell agreed to hold a vote that would allow the deadline to be pushed back to December of this year.
“Democrats said they would move forward with a vote as early as Thursday, then quickly pivot to negotiating a multitrillion-dollar measure to address climate change, expand the social safety net and raise taxes on the wealthy and corporations,” reports the New York Times.
Senate Democrats are celebrating this victory, even if it is short-lived.
“Around here, two months is a lifetime,” said Senator Bernie Sanders.
The agreement prevented the U.S. from defaulting on its loans, which would have vast economic impacts across the globe, as the Senate hopes to vote today on accepting it.
