Imagine inhaling just a few drops of liquid or mist to get protected from COVID-19. That is the idea behind nasal COVID-19 vaccines, and they have been getting a lot of attention recently as a spray or liquid. These nasal vaccines would be based on the same technology as normal vaccines given by injection. But as Mayuresh Abhyankar, a University of Virginia researcher who studies infectious diseases and works on nasal vaccines, explains, vaccinating someone right where the coronavirus is likely to start its attack comes with many immunological benefits.

1. What are nasal vaccines?

Nasal vaccines are administered, as the name suggests, through the nose. More accurately called intranasal vaccines, these vaccines are liquids that can be given as a spray or through a dropper or syringe. The most common nasal vaccine is FluMist, a nasal spray that uses inactivated flu virus to protect against influenza. An intranasal vaccine could be a weakened live virus similar to FluMist, a nucleic acid vaccine like mRNA coronavirus vaccines or a protein vaccine like Hepatitis B vaccines or the CorbeVax coronavirus vaccine.

Intranasal vaccines are best suited to protect against pathogens that enter through the nose, like the flu or the coronavirus. By mimicking the first step of natural exposure to an airborne pathogen, these vaccines help train a person’s immune system at the potential place of infection. Scientists have shown that the first immune response in the respiratory tract after a person is exposed to an airborne virus can influence how sick a person gets. So in theory, intranasal vaccines could provide better protection than vaccines given through a shot in the arm.

2. How does the coronavirus infect people?

SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, usually enters the body through the nose and lands on the mucus membrane at the back of the nasal passage and in the throat. The virus then enters the cells it touches, replicates and spreads.

Just underneath these cells of the mucus membrane are many types of immune cells that form what is called the mucosal immune system. Cells of the mucosal immune system are the first to identify invading coronavirus particles and start mounting a protective response.

In an unvaccinated individual, it takes about two weeks for these immune cells to build up a protective response after encountering the coronavirus. By that time, the virus can easily have infected other body parts, like the lungs, which can lead to severe disease.

Nasal vaccines follow a lot of the same steps. When you inhale a nasal vaccine, the particles land on the mucus membrane in your nasal cavity or the back of your throat, enter the cells in those places and trigger an immune response. This process teaches the body about the coronavirus and allows it to deal with any future real infections.

3. How are nasal and intramuscular vaccines different?

When you get a COVID-19 shot in your arm, the vaccine triggers a strong immune response in the cells near where you got the shot. It also causes your immune system to produce some coronavirus-specific antibodies and other immune cells in other locations throughout your body.

When the coronavirus begins infecting cells in a person’s respiratory tract, the immune cells nearby will start mounting a defense. Your body will also send anti-viral immune cells and antibodies from other locations to the site of infection. But by the time enough coronavirus-specific immune cells gather around the infection site to stop the virus from replicating, the virus has likely already begun to spread throughout the body, making it difficult for the immune system to keep up.

Nasal vaccines mimic the virus in order to prepare the immune system against a virus, just like any other vaccine. But importantly, they mimic the process of infection, too, and boost protective response within the mucosal immune system of the nose and throat. In simple terms, intranasal vaccines are like knowing there is going to be a break-in and putting your guards in the right location before the trouble even starts.

The science bears this idea out. In a head-to-head comparison, AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine provided greater protection in hamsters that were vaccinated intranasally compared to those vaccinated intramuscularly.

Nasal vaccination could also be used in concert with intramuscular immunization. In a recent study, my colleagues and I gave some mice both a nasal and intramuscular vaccine and exposed them to a lethal dose of SARS-CoV-2 – 100% of these mixed-vaccinated mice survived, compared to only 10% of the unvaccinated mice. We are now testing if this mixed approach is superior to just intranasal or just intramuscular approaches on their own.

Finally, intranasal vaccines are painless, noninvasive and do not require specialized training to use.

4. What are the risks of nasal vaccines?

Getting the dosage correct can be harder with nasal vaccines than a shot, especially with young children. If someone has a stuffy nose or sneezes out a part of the vaccine before it’s completely absorbed, this can result in a lower-than-desired dose.

There are some unique health risks too. All vaccines go through rigorous safety testing and clinical trials, but these processes are especially important for nasal vaccines due to the simple fact that the nose is close to the brain. In 2000, 27.7% of people who received an inactivated intranasal influenza vaccine in Switzerland developed transient facial paralysis – also known as Bell’s palsy. Later, researchers found that a bacterial toxin added to the vaccine to enhance the immune response was the culprit.

This is the only reported instance of neurological issues stemming from intranasal vaccines, but it is something to consider.

5. How long until intranasal COVID-19 vaccines are ready?

As of late May 2022, there are no approved COVID-19 intranasal vaccines for human use. There are currently seven in clinical trials, and three of them – manufactured by Beijing Wantai Biological Pharmacy, Bharat Biotech, and Codagenix and Serum Institute of India – are in phase-3 human trials.

In the coming months, the results of these trials will not only show how safe these promising new vaccines are, but also if they perform better than the vaccines in use today.

Mayuresh Abhyankar, Associate Professor of Infectious Diseases and International Health, University of Virginia

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — Lake County Animal Care and Control has four dogs ready to be adopted this week.

Dogs available for adoption this week include mixes of Labrador retriever, pit bull and wire-haired terrier.

Dogs that are adopted from Lake County Animal Care and Control are either neutered or spayed, microchipped and, if old enough, given a rabies shot and county license before being released to their new owner. License fees do not apply to residents of the cities of Lakeport or Clearlake.

The following dogs at the Lake County Animal Care and Control shelter have been cleared for adoption.

Call Lake County Animal Care and Control at 707-263-0278 or visit the shelter online for information on visiting or adopting.

Chocolate lab mix

This young male chocolate Labrador, who is under a year old, has a short coat.

He is in kennel No. 3, ID No. LCAC-A-3385.

‘Rooster’

“Rooster” is a 5-year-old male mountain cur with a brown brindle coat.

He is in kennel No. 4, ID No. LCAC-A-3384.

‘Willie’

“Willie” is a 1-year-old male pit bull terrier with a short brown and white coat.

He is in kennel No. 20, ID No. LCAC-A-3301.

Male wire-haired terrier

This 2-year-old male wire-haired terrier has a cream-colored coat.

He is in kennel No. 22, ID No. LCAC-A-3399.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.

With its mirror segments beautifully aligned and its scientific instruments undergoing calibration, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope is just weeks away from full operation. Soon after the first observations are revealed this summer, Webb’s in-depth science will begin.

Among the investigations planned for the first year are studies of two hot exoplanets classified as “super-Earths” for their size and rocky composition: the lava-covered 55 Cancri e and the airless LHS 3844 b.

Researchers will train Webb’s high-precision spectrographs on these planets with a view to understanding the geologic diversity of planets across the galaxy, and the evolution of rocky planets like Earth.

Super-hot super-Earth 55 Cancri e

55 Cancri e orbits less than 1.5 million miles from its Sun-like star (1/25th of the distance between Mercury and the Sun), completing one circuit in less than 18 hours. With surface temperatures far above the melting point of typical rock-forming minerals, the day side of the planet is thought to be covered in oceans of lava.

Planets that orbit this close to their star are assumed to be tidally locked, with one side facing the star at all times. As a result, the hottest spot on the planet should be the one that faces the star most directly, and the amount of heat coming from the day side should not change much over time.

But this doesn’t seem to be the case. Observations of 55 Cancri e from NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope suggest that the hottest region is offset from the part that faces the star most directly, while the total amount of heat detected from the day side does vary.

Does 55 Cancri e have a thick atmosphere?

One explanation for these observations is that the planet has a dynamic atmosphere that moves heat around.

“55 Cancri e could have a thick atmosphere dominated by oxygen or nitrogen,” explained Renyu Hu of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, who leads a team that will use Webb’s Near-Infrared Camera, or NIRCam, and Mid-Infrared Instrument, or MIRI, to capture the thermal emission spectrum of the day side of the planet.

“If it has an atmosphere, [Webb] has the sensitivity and wavelength range to detect it and determine what it is made of,” Hu added.

Or is it raining lava in the evening on 55 Cancri e?

Another intriguing possibility, however, is that 55 Cancri e is not tidally locked. Instead, it may be like Mercury, rotating three times for every two orbits (what’s known as a 3:2 resonance). As a result, the planet would have a day-night cycle.

“That could explain why the hottest part of the planet is shifted,” explained Alexis Brandeker, a researcher from Stockholm University who leads another team studying the planet. “Just like on Earth, it would take time for the surface to heat up. The hottest time of the day would be in the afternoon, not right at noon.”

Brandeker’s team plans to test this hypothesis using NIRCam to measure the heat emitted from the lit side of 55 Cancri e during four different orbits. If the planet has a 3:2 resonance, they will observe each hemisphere twice and should be able to detect any difference between the hemispheres.

In this scenario, the surface would heat up, melt, and even vaporize during the day, forming a very thin atmosphere that Webb could detect. In the evening, the vapor would cool and condense to form droplets of lava that would rain back to the surface, turning solid again as night falls.

Somewhat cooler super-Earth LHS 3844 b

While 55 Cancri e will provide insight into the exotic geology of a world covered in lava, LHS 3844 b affords a unique opportunity to analyze the solid rock on an exoplanet surface.

Like 55 Cancri e, LHS 3844 b orbits extremely close to its star, completing one revolution in 11 hours. However, because its star is relatively small and cool, the planet is not hot enough for the surface to be molten. Additionally, Spitzer observations indicate that the planet is very unlikely to have a substantial atmosphere.

What is the surface of LHS 3844 b made of?

While we won’t be able to image the surface of LHS 3844 b directly with Webb, the lack of an obscuring atmosphere makes it possible to study the surface with spectroscopy.

“It turns out that different types of rock have different spectra,” explained Laura Kreidberg at the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy. “You can see with your eyes that granite is lighter in color than basalt. There are similar differences in the infrared light that rocks give off.”

Kreidberg’s team will use MIRI to capture the thermal emission spectrum of the day side of LHS 3844 b, and then compare it to spectra of known rocks, like basalt and granite, to determine its composition. If the planet is volcanically active, the spectrum could also reveal the presence of trace amounts of volcanic gases.

The importance of these observations goes far beyond just two of the more than 5,000 confirmed exoplanets in the galaxy. “They will give us fantastic new perspectives on Earth-like planets in general, helping us learn what the early Earth might have been like when it was hot like these planets are today,” said Kreidberg.

These observations of 55 Cancri e and LHS 3844 b will be conducted as part of Webb’s Cycle 1 General Observers program. General Observers programs were competitively selected using a dual-anonymous review system, the same system used to allocate time on Hubble.

The James Webb Space Telescope is the world's premier space science observatory. Webb will solve mysteries in our solar system, look beyond to distant worlds around other stars, and probe the mysterious structures and origins of our universe and our place in it.

Webb is an international program led by NASA with its partners, European Space Agency and the Canadian Space Agency.

Margaret W. Carruthers works for the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, Maryland.

KELSEYVILLE, Calif. — After qualifying at their Spring Regional Leadership Conference in late February, seven students from the Kelseyville High School Advanced Culinary Arts class joined about 700 other attendees at the 75th annual California Family, Careers and Community Leaders of America State Leadership Conference held April 23 to 26 in Riverside.

All KHS students received either gold, silver or bronze seals in recognition of their scores, and KHS senior Karina Sonato placed third in state for her charcuterie board.

The Family, Careers and Community Leaders of America State Leadership Conference, or FCCLA, is a career technical student organization for students in grades sixth through 12th who are enrolled in Family and Consumer Sciences education programs in California public schools and the KHS Culinary Arts class is associated with the organization.

This was the first year KHS competed, and teacher Tami Cramer said she was “thrilled with the results” and looking forward to her students participating again next year.

This year’s participants included Karina Sonata, Sarahi Sonato and Estefani Ramirez Reyes, who) competed in culinary display: appetizers; as well as Delayna Dothage, Emily Jimenez, Briseyda Cacho and Anthony Ruiz Matias, who competed in salad preparation.

The theme of the conference, “Make it Count,” was intended to inspire members to get out of their comfort zone and get involved in all the activities and events.

In addition to competing, students attended statewide and regional meetings, workshops, industry visits, a formal banquet and a dance.

Approximately 70 FCCLA chapters from across the state competed for more than $1.6 million dollars in cash and scholarships in leadership and career development competition events.

This year, the following colleges provided FCCLA scholarships: Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts, Culinary Institute of America, FIDM, Johnson and Wales University, and Sullivan University.

Instructional programs, career education, and competitive events relate to one or more of nine industry sector pathways that are included in FCS education programs, including: child development; education; consumer services; family and human services; fashion design and merchandising; interior design; food science, dietetics, and nutrition; hospitality, tourism and recreation; and food service and hospitality.

As Californians gear up for another beautiful summer full of outdoor recreation, boaters are being asked to remember the importance of cleaning, draining and drying their watercraft to combat the spread of invasive quagga and zebra mussels.

Quagga and zebra mussels are invasive freshwater mussels native to Europe and Asia. They multiply quickly, alter water quality and the aquatic food web, and ultimately impact native and sport fish communities. These mussels spread from one waterbody to another by attaching to watercraft, equipment and nearly anything that has been in an infested waterbody.

Invisible to the naked eye, microscopic juveniles are spread from infested waterbodies by water that is entrapped in boat engines, ballasts, bilges, live-wells and buckets.

Quagga mussels have infested 34 waters in Southern California and zebra mussels have infested two waters in San Benito County, 13 of which are boatable by the public.

To prevent the spread of these mussels and other aquatic invasive species, people launching vessels at any waterbody are subject to watercraft inspections and should clean, drain and dry their motorized and non-motorized boats, including personal watercraft and any equipment that contacts the water, before and after use.

“The California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) operates border protection stations that inspect trailered watercraft entering the state,” said California Department of Fish and Wildlife Invasive Species Program Manager Martha Volkoff. “Early this year, the stations marked their two-millionth watercraft inspected, a milestone that represents a monumental contribution in preventing further introductions of mussels into the state. In addition to the border protection stations, water managers throughout the state continue to implement inspections at their waterbodies. Memorial Day is a great opportunity to spread the word to boaters about the simple actions they should take in preparation for their next outing.”

“Boaters need to conduct the ‘Clean, Drain and Dry’ practice each time they enjoy recreating on waterbodies,” said California State Parks Division of Boating and Waterways Acting Deputy Director Ramona Fernandez. “This responsible boating practice will help keep our water bodies free from invasive species, such as freshwater quagga and zebra mussels.”

Quagga and zebra mussels can attach to and damage virtually any submerged surface. They can:

• Ruin a boat engine by blocking the cooling system and causing it to overheat;
• Jam a boat’s steering equipment, putting occupants and others at risk;
• Require frequent scraping and repainting of boat hulls;
• Colonize all underwater substrates such as boat ramps, docks, lines and other underwater surfaces, causing them to require constant cleaning;
• Impose large expenses to owners.

CDFW advises boaters to take the following steps before leaving a waterbody to prevent spreading invasive mussels, improve the efficiency of their inspection experience and safeguard California waterways:

• CLEAN — inspect exposed surfaces and remove all plants and organisms,
• DRAIN — all water, including water contained in lower outboard units, live-wells and bait buckets, and
• DRY — allow the watercraft to thoroughly dry between launches. Watercraft should be kept dry for at least five days in warm weather and up to 30 days in cool weather.

Please visit websites for CDFW and California State Parks for extensive information on invasive species, the harm they can produce, and how California boaters can provide crucial assistance in the fight against invasive mussels.

Travelers are also advised to be prepared for inspections at CDFA border protection stations. Inspections, which can also be conducted by CDFW and California State Parks, include a check of boats and personal watercraft, as well as trailers and all onboard items.

Contaminated vessels and equipment are subject to decontamination, rejection, quarantine or impoundment.

CDFW, CDFA, State Parks and the California Department of Water Resources thank boaters for their continued and valuable cooperation in joining the fight against invasive quagga and zebra mussels.

Expanding California’s global climate leadership, Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday established a new international climate partnership with New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.

California and New Zealand signed a memorandum of cooperation, or MOC, to tackle the climate crisis, reduce pollution, and bolster the clean economy, while emphasizing community resilience and partnership with indigenous leaders.

In the New Zealand Garden at the San Francisco Botanical Garden in Golden Gate Park, California and New Zealand outlined common objectives to achieve carbon-neutrality by mid-century, as well as their shared world-leading policies for zero-emission transportation, climate innovation, clean power generation, nature-based solutions, and zero waste initiatives.

The MOC furthers these common objectives through sharing information and best practices. A copy of the MOC signed today can be read below.

“Later is too late to address climate change, and California is taking aggressive steps to bolster the clean economy while reducing pollution in our communities – but we can’t do it alone,” said Gov. Newsom. “This partnership with New Zealand, another global climate leader, will strengthen ties between our two governments to deploy critical solutions that are essential to addressing this existential crisis.”

“No country is immune from the impacts of climate changes, so it’s just common sense to collaborate with like-minded partners to meet our mutual goals,” said Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern. “We both aim to achieve net zero carbon emissions by the middle of the century. This agreement means we’ll work together to share expertise and experience and collaborate on projects that help meet each other’s targets.”

California’s world-leading climate policies have led the state to exceed its 2020 climate target four years ahead of schedule, and created partnerships across the U.S. and around the world.

Gov. Newsom has committed $47.1 billion to tackle pollution, build climate-resilient water supplies, reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfires, ensure grid reliability and accelerate clean energy solutions, and protect communities from extreme heat.

California’s ZEV market is leading the nation in every category and the state is ending the sale of new gas cars by 2035, reducing demand for oil and spurring partnerships across the nation and around the world.

Responding to the governor’s nature-based solutions executive order, which identified California’s lands as a critical yet underutilized sector in the fight against climate change, California last month released the Pathways to 30x30: Accelerating Conservation of California’s Nature strategy and Natural and Working Lands Climate Smart Strategy.

Earlier this year, California signed a Memorandum of Cooperation with Japan to advance cooperation on climate and clean energy priorities, and strengthen trade relations.

Gov. Newsom also signed a Memorandum of Understanding with China to accelerate ongoing initiatives to protect the environment, reduce carbon and air pollution, and promote clean technology development.

Last year, Gov. Newsom and 24 governors from the bipartisan U.S. Climate Alliance committed to collectively achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions no later than 2050.

Gov. Newsom and other Under2 Coalition partners announced the transition to become a net zero coalition, raising ambition for member states and regions.

California also joined the Beyond Oil & Gas Alliance, which brings together national and subnational governments committed to advancing a just transition away from oil and gas production.

5.27.22 Memorandum of Cooperation by LakeCoNews on Scribd