What We’re Reading: UNOS Extends Deadline; 2022 Year-End COVID-19 Exposure; Gavi Approves New Polio Vaccine

UNOS Extends Deadline to Avoid Organ Supply Disruption

Buckeye Transplant Services has been given a 2-week extension from the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS), the nonprofit group association that manages the nationwide organ allocation system, to comply with UNOS transplant data use guidelines, reports The Washington Post. This extension evades a possible cutoff of the flow of organs vital to saving lives that could have started immediately. Buckeye now has until July 19 to conform with the UNOS requirements. Sixty-three hospitals and transplant centers currently use Buckeye for potential transplant organ evaluation.

Quarter of US Population Not Exposed to COVID-19 by End of 2022

Approximately a quarter of the US population had not been exposed to COVID-19 as recently as year-end 2022, according to CDC data reported by The Hill. For October through December 2022, the CDC estimates that about 77.5% of people possessed infection-induced antibodies against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. The highest percentages of natural antibodies were seen among persons aged 16 to 29 years (87.1%) and Hispanic individuals (80.6%). A rate of 77% was seen among Black, White, and other racial/ethnic groups.

Vaccine to Prevent Polio and More Approved by Gavi

The governing board of Gavi, the international group that provides vaccines to developing countries, has included a new vaccine on its roster that could assist in eradicating polio globally, thereby stopping its resurgence, according to The New York Times. Unlike the current polio vaccines that are currently in use in some low- and middle-income countries that incorporate live viruses, this new vaccine has incorporated an inactivated polio component into a multifaceted injection that is already being used to protect young children against 5 other serious infections. A similar vaccine is already accessible in the United States and some countries in Europe.