science.org SCIENCEPHOTO: ALLARD PIERSON MUSEUMin the COVID-19 context is uncertain, the
drug is a selective serotonin reuptake inhibi-
tor that has antiviral and anti-inflammatory
effects; it also has antiplatelet activity that
could potentially reduce the widespread clot-
ting that can complicate severe COVID-19.Mood disorders qualify for shots
COVID-19 | Tens of millions of additional
U.S. adults became eligible for COVID-
vaccine booster shots last month, when
the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC) added depression,
schizophrenia, and other mental health
disorders to a list of conditions that put
people at higher risk of severe COVID-19.
About 50 million U.S. adults suffer from
mental health conditions, the government
estimates. CDC cited two meta-analyses
published in JAMA Psychiatry in July and
October. The first found a 38% increased
risk of COVID-19 mortality in people with
any mental health disorder and a 67%
increased risk in people with schizo-
phrenia or bipolar disorder. The second,
which analyzed studies involving 19 mil-
lion people, found a higher (31%) risk of
COVID-19 hospitalization and mortality
(51%) among people with mood disorders.Ukraine to get treasures back
COLLECTIONS | A disputed set of archaeo-
logical treasures loaned from museums
in Crimea should be returned to the
Ukrainian government, a Dutch court
ruled on 26 October. Crimea was part of
Ukraine until March 2014, when Russia
annexed it. At the time, the University
of Amsterdam’s Allard Pierson Museum
was holding the objects—including jewels
from Chersonesus, a Greek colony founded
some 2500 years ago in present-day
Sevastopol, and a gold helmet from theNEWS
IN BRIEF
“
It’s not a very happy place. We are getting
quite concerned about this.
”
David Frost, top U.K. negotiator for Brexit, in The Guardian, about his country’s impasse with the
European Union over participation by U.K. scientists in the EU Horizon Europe funding program.An Amsterdam museum must return to Ukraine this
silver pin and other treasures on loan since 2014.Edited by Jeffrey BrainardT
he U.S. Congress could begin to vote as early as this week on
President Joe Biden’s Build Back Better plan, a $1.75 trillion
package that includes hefty boosts for some federal research
agencies. Many of the sums for science in the plan’s latest version—
which also supports efforts to deal with climate change and
enhance social welfare—are far smaller than those included in
an earlier one. A proposed $10 billion increase for the Department
of Energy’s Office of Science for 19 major projects, including new in-
struments at national laboratories, shrank to just $985 million over
5 years, all targeted at fusion energy, in the current plan. The National
Science Foundation, once slated to get $11 billion, instead would re-
ceive $3.5 billion through 2028. Congress has yet to finish work on
separate bills that set spending for science in 2022.FUNDINGBiden plan offers smaller science boost
AGENCY/PROGRAMAMOUNT FOR
RESEARCH
($ MILLIONS PURPOSE
National Science Foundation 3500 Includes $1.5 billion for new
technology directorate
Department of Energy Office
of Science985 Studies of fusion energy, low-dose radiationNational Institute of Standards
and Technology340 Advanced manufacturing, worker training,
and wildfire studies
National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration100 Climate research grantsNASA 85 Earth science studies involving climate change
National Institutes of Health 75 Support for minority-serving institutionsHow select agencies and programs faredAntidepressant fights COVID-
THERAPEUTICS | An inexpensive anti-
depressant commonly used to treat
obsessive-compulsive disorder significantly
decreased the risk of COVID-19 patients
becoming hospitalized, conclude authors
of a large trial published last week. The
randomized, controlled study examined
fluvoxamine in 1500 symptomatic, un-
vaccinated people in Brazil with at least one
preexisting condition that made them more
likely to develop severe COVID-19. Patientswho received a fluvoxamine pill twice a
day starting within 7 days of developing
symptoms were 32% less likely to be hos-
pitalized or need prolonged observation in
an emergency room than those in a placebo
group, the authors reported in The Lancet
Global Health. In patients who took the pills
for at least 80% of the recommended 10-day
course, the risk of hospitalization was
66% less than in those in the placebo group,
and just one of the treated patients died,
compared with 12 who received the placebo.
Although fluvoxamine’s mechanism of action664 5 NOVEMBER 2021 • VOL 374 ISSUE 6568