Israel's Ben Gurion Intl Airport to Launch Self-Service Luggage Handling

Israel’s Ben-Gurion International Airport is going digital, effective 2023, the Israel Airports Authority announced Sunday.

The move is intended to improve luggage handling and security screening and is expected to shorten the super-long check-in lines in the Departures Hall.

Self-Service Luggage Check-in Kiosks

The new self-service kiosks will enable passengers to weigh their own luggage, print their own bag tags and then send their luggage to the baggage hold after the tags are scanned next to the conveyor belt. Each airline will scan the bags again before loading them on to the planes.

Passengers will be charged for excess weight as detected by the independent luggage scales and will be provided with the opportunity to pay the fee independently as well.

How to Handle the Flood Till 2023?

Some 10 million passengers have already passed through the airport since January 1. In August alone, airport workers are expected to see another 2.3 million passengers coming through.

To handle the influx expected for the end-of-summer rush -- and the flood expected for the holiday month of Tishrei -- the Israel Airports Authority said it will increase the number of carry-on checkpoints at Ben-Gurion International Airport, all of which will be equipped with new technology to enable rapid screening, at a cost of some NIS 2 million.

"Today, more than 50 percent of passengers prefer to check in online. Advanced technologies will help provide passengers with a diverse and extensive independent service," the IAA said in its statement.

Passengers traveling abroad will only go through security after completing a self-service check-in at an airport kiosk, or after completing the check-in online from home. "Most of the processes for exiting the country will be done online and through digital means," the statement said.

Last month it was announced that passengers in northern Israel departing from Ben-Gurion International Airport could check in at the Haifa Airport one day before their flight, to reduce the congestion that has plagued the airport since the start of the summer rush.

Study: Pfizer-BioNTech and AstraZeneca vaccines offer high protection against severe COVID-19

Protection against severe COVID-19 by two doses of Pfizer-BioNTech and AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines remained high up to six months after second doses, according to new research which analyzed NHS health record data on over seven million adults.

The University of Bristol-led study published in The BMJ found protection in older adults aged over 65 years, and in clinically vulnerable adults.

Researchers from Bristol Medical School sought to investigate how quickly vaccine effectiveness waned over time in adults without prior SARS-CoV-2 infection and who received two doses of BNT162b2 (Pfizer-BioNTech) or ChAdOx1 (AstraZeneca) COVID-19 vaccine compared with unvaccinated individuals.

Method and findings

Using linked GP, hospital, and COVID-19 records on 1,951,866 and 3,219,349 adults who had received two doses of BNT162b2 and ChAdOx1, respectively and 2,422,980 unvaccinated adults, researchers were able to provide a clearer picture of vaccine effectiveness against COVID-19 hospital admission, COVID-19 death, and positive SARS-CoV-2 test.

Rates of COVID-19 hospital admission and COVID-19 death were substantially lower among vaccinated than unvaccinated adults up to six months after their second dose.

Vaccine effectiveness against these events was found to be at least 80% for BNT162b2, and at least 75% for ChAdOx1. However, waning vaccine effectiveness against infection with SARS-CoV-2 meant that rates in vaccinated individuals were similar to or higher than in unvaccinated individuals by six months after the second dose.

Protection still high after 6 months

Dr Elsie Horne, Senior Research Associate in Medical Statistics and Health Data Science in Bristol Medical School, Population Health Sciences (PHS) and the study’s lead author, said, “Until now there has been limited and conflicting evidence relating to the rate of waning following second dose of COVID-19 vaccines, whether it extends to severe COVID-19, and whether the rate differs according to age and clinical vulnerability.

“Although we found that protection against severe COVID-19 provided by two doses of vaccine wanes over time, the very high initial protection means that, despite waning, protection remains high six months after the second dose. This finding was consistent across all adults, including older adults and those who are at risk of severe COVID-19.”

Jonathan Sterne, Professor of Medical Statistics and Epidemiology in Bristol Medical School PHS, Director of the National Institute for Health and Care Research Bristol Biomedical Research Centre (NIHR Bristol BRC), Director of Health Data Research UK (HDR UK) South-West and co-author, added, “We found that the rate at which vaccine effectiveness waned was consistent across subgroups defined by age and clinical vulnerability.

Studying how long COVID-19 vaccines remain effective continues to be important to scheduling and targeting of booster vaccinations.”

The researchers now plan to lead a follow-up study looking at vaccine effectiveness to one year post-second dose and into the era of the Omicron variant. They are also investigating the rate of waning in vulnerable clinical subgroups, such as those with chronic kidney disease and with cancer.

The study was supported by two COVID-19 National Core Studies (NCS) programmes: COVID-19 Longitudinal Health and Wellbeing and COVID-19 Data and Connectivity; Asthma UK; NIHR (National Institute for Health and Care Research) and Wellcome. TPP provided technical expertise and infrastructure pro bono in the context of a national emergency.

REFERENCE:

Horne EMF...Sterne JAC. Waning effectiveness of BNT162b2 and ChAdOx1 covid-19 vaccines over six months since second dose: OpenSAFELY cohort study using linked electronic health records. BMJ July 20, 2022; 378 DOI: 10.1136/bmj-2022-071249

Hebrew U Startup 'Viroblock' is Developing New Anti-Viral Medication

A startup company founded by Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HU) has developed a new medication that targets common viruses.

ViroBlock announced June 6 that it has developed a new drug platform for rapidly generating anti-viral drugs that target proteins common to all viruses, such as current and future COVID-19 variants, Influenza, Zika, West Nile, Hepatitis and future threats.

Working on a drug to fight COVID-19

"Currently, there are no efficient, validated platforms for rapidly generating anti-viral drugs," says ViroBlock CEO and Founder Isaiah (Shy) Arkin, who is also an HU professor of biological chemistry in the Alexander Silberman Institute of Life Sciences.

"Scientists must develop new agents and a customized approach to target every new virus, without the ability to predict how that virus will develop resistance.

ViroBlock is working on a promising drug candidate for COVID-19 using an approach that can be duplicated with most other important viruses."

Numerous viruses targeted

According to a new study conducted by pharma research company Evotec, ViroBlock’s new technology platform demonstrated the potential to rapidly provide solutions for treating current and emerging viral threats, including COVID-19 and variants, influenza, Zika, West Nile, and Hepatitis B.

The study showed that channel blockers it identified could protect cells from viral-induced death alongside dramatically lowering the amount of viral progeny.

How it works

ViroBlock's antiviral drug candidates inhibit two targets in the virus: the E (envelope) protein and the 3a protein.

The E protein is an ion channel, a type of protein family expressed by virtually all living cells that because of its structure has served as a frequent target for pharmaceutical point interventions.

For example, while the spike proteins of SARS-CoV-2 and SARS-CoV-1 (the 2003 virus) are only about 75 percent identical, their E proteins are roughly 95 percent alike. This means the ViroBlock drugs would likely remain effective even when the virus mutates.

"With our propriety technology, ViroBlock can identify targets in a new viral threat (or variant), develop inhibitors against it, and determine the resistance potential of the virus against the new drug, all at an unprecedented pace," Arkin says.

Testing on humans is next

The next phase of clinical trials will test the efficacy of this anti-viral approach for humans.

The company also has drugs in the pipeline produced by the platform currently being tested that could be effective against other viruses.

ViroBlock was founded in 2020 by Yissum, the Hebrew University technology transfer company.

Rebooting Western Australia's Whale Calving Grounds

Researchers are embarking on an immense detective effort to identify individual whales from thousands of historical photos.

The researchers, from Edith Cowan University (ECU) and Western Whale Research, are working through a 30-year archive of photos taken by scientists and volunteers.

They are comparing the distinctive white callosity markings on the heads of the whales to help determine how many visit the area to calve, and whether extra protection is needed.

By identifying individual Southern Right Whales, the team hope to demonstrate that Geographe Bay, near the popular tourist town of Busselton, is emerging as an area in need of extra protection to ensure it is a safe environment for whale calves.

Southern Right Whales were decimated by commercial whaling until the practice was banned in the 1970s.

The species is listed as Endangered in Australia. They were estimated to number around 3400 in 2018.

Whale revival

Researchers believe increased activity in Geographe Bay is a result of whales returning to traditional calving grounds along Western Australia’s south coast as the population slowly recovers.

Lead researcher from ECU’s School of Science, Associate Professor Chandra Salgado Kent, said it was likely Geographe Bay and Flinders Bay had been important calving grounds before commercial whaling began.

“As the population of Southern Right Whales continues to recover, we’re seeing individuals return to bays along the Western Australian coast,” she said.

“We can identify these individuals as they show up in the photos. It can take up to a couple of hours to determine whether the whales in each photo are a match with earlier records, or whether they are a new individual.

“Preliminary results from the identification work done so far shows the South West bays are important calving grounds with as many as 229 individuals visiting in the past 30 years.

“This research is important to better understand how whales are using these locations, which are now extremely popular for recreational boating and other marine activities.”

A long time between visits

Chris Burton from Western Whale Research contributed many of the images to the photo archive and said the research team were already aware of a female whale photographed in Geographe Bay nine years apart and both times with a small calf.

Mr Burton said the project demonstrated the strong interest in preserving whales visiting the region from the local community.

He also acknowledged the contribution of local businesses including, Naturaliste Charters Whale Watching, to creating the massive photo archive.

The research project is a partnership between Edith Cowan University, Western Whale Research, and Eco Gecko Environment & Design.

This project is supported with funding from the Australian Government under the National Environmental Science Program.