CUBA TO UPGRADE VACCINE TO CONFRONT OMICRON VARIANT — Reuters, 1 December 2021
HAVANA (Reuters) — Cuban health authorities said that researchers in the communist-run country are upgrading its homegrown COVID vaccines to ensure protection against the new Omicron variant. The Caribbean island nation, whose economy hinges on tourism, sharply eased entry requirements in mid-November following a successful inoculation drive with domestically developed vaccines, with both infections and deaths from COVID-19 dropping to 2% or less of their peaks.
Vicente Verez, director of Cuba’s Finlay Institute for Vaccines, said on state-run media: “We decided as of last week to start developing a Soberana Plus variant having the Omicron RBD protein. We have already started it, and that protein is being built at the moment.” He noted it was clear that Cuba’s Soberana vaccine would continue to provide “a certain level of protection” against Omicron, but the extent of that protection remained uncertain. Cuba has made vaccines available to several of its allies, including Venezuela, Nicaragua and Iran. Cuba has yet to detect the Omicron variant, but announced it would tighten restrictions beginning 4 December on passengers from certain African countries.
AN OVERVIEW OF THE EFFECTIVENESS OF ANTI-AGING DIETS — MedicalXPress, 29 November 2021
A small team of researchers from The University of Washington has carried out a review of research on the effectiveness of anti-aging diets and found little to suggest they work. The researchers looked at intermittent fasting, time-restricted eating studies, and the ketogenic diet. They found no evidence that any of them led to increased lifespan in humans — noting, however, that their effectiveness has not been seriously studied, as it would require monitoring subjects for a lifetime. Four major myths that have been dispelled: (1) that restricting calories works every single time to extend lifespan; (2) that restricting calories extends lifespan by stopping cancer; (3) that some nutrients are good or bad regarding lifespan; and (4) that there are any anti-aging diets that actually work as claimed. The researchers conclude that far too little research has been conducted to determine if anti-aging diet claims really do extend the human lifespan.