The COVID-19 mRNA vaccines’ 2-dose primary series appeared to provide less protection against hospitalization from Omicron variant infections than Alpha and Delta infections, according to a recent study. A booster dose, however, was associated with increased effectiveness against Omicron hospitalizations at the same high levels achieved against earlier variants with 2 […]
In this open-label, nonrandomized clinical study, we assessed the immunogenicity and safety of a fourth dose of either BNT162b2 (Pfizer–BioNTech) or mRNA-1273 (Moderna) administered 4 months after the third dose in a series of three BNT162b2 doses (ClinicalTrials.gov numbers, NCT05231005. opens in new tab and NCT05230953. opens in new tab; the protocol is available with […]
Antibody-evading Omicron keeps function The Omicron variant of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 was reported in November 2021 and was quickly identified as a variant of concern because of its rapid spread. Relative to the original Wuhan-Hu-1 strain, this variant has 37 mutations in the spike protein that is […]
Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued an emergency use authorization (EUA) for a new monoclonal antibody for the treatment of COVID-19 that retains activity against the omicron variant. The EUA for bebtelovimab is for the treatment of mild to moderate COVID-19 in adults and pediatric patients (12 years of age […]
While studies indicate the Omicron subvariant spreads more easily than the highly transmissible original Omicron variant, there’s no evidence the subvariant makes people any sicker, a World Health Organization official said, according to CNBC. Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO technical lead, said Tuesday at a news conference that both the Omicron variant, […]
The rapid accumulation of mutations in the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant that enabled its outbreak raises questions as to whether its proximal origin occurred in humans or another mammalian host. Here, we identified 45 point mutations that Omicron acquired since divergence from the B.1.1 lineage. We found that the Omicron spike protein sequence was subjected […]
Major differences in how efficiently Omicron and other variants of the coronavirus multiply may help predict Omicron’s effects, researchers said on Wednesday. Compared to the earlier Delta variant, Omicron multiplies itself 70 times more quickly in airway passages, which may facilitate person-to-person spread, they said. But in lung tissues, Omicron […]
Predicting future COVID waves and hospital surges is always fraught with challenges, but there are early indications from Texas, Minnesota, Britain and South Africa that the U.S. health system will experience yet another great challenge. There is little doubt we are headed for an unprecedented COVID surge from Delta and Omicron variants […]
The Omicron variant largely evades immunity from past infection or two vaccine doses according to the latest Imperial modelling. The new report (Report 49) from the Imperial College London COVID-19 response team estimates that the risk of reinfection with the Omicron variant is 5.4 times greater than that of the Delta variant. This […]
It’s been about a month since scientists first detected the highly mutated coronavirus variant dubbed “omicron.” Since then, scientists have come to learn that omicron spreads faster than the delta variant and is the quickest-spreading variant the world has yet faced. It also has a huge ability to bypass immune […]
