Covid Vaccine Race

A new study in the United Kingdom provided evidence in support of a fourth dose of COVID-19 vaccines, showing a strong boost in immunity.

A third, “booster,” dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine is now FDA-approved for children 5-11 years old.

As we recently surpassed the 2-year mark of the pandemic, the May issue reflects on lessons learned thus far.

The company is utilizing this platform to address new COVID-19 variants, combination vaccines, and potentially prevent HIV.

Despite a significantly slower than expected COVID-19 vaccine rollout, Novavax reports early 2022 as its first profitable quarter.

The federal agency revised the vaccine’s Emergency Use Authorization after an analysis of the risk for thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS).

Medicago’s plant-based vaccine, Covifenz, was 69.5% effective against symptomatic COVID-19 infection and 78.8% effective against moderate-to-severe disease.

The number of Americans who opt for an additional booster dose of a COVID-19 vaccine may be limited.

Researchers looked at the serial use of homologous and heterologous boosters in open-label clinical trials across 10 US sites.

Correlating immune response to COVID-19 vaccination in persons with HIV to their CD4 T-cell count could inform optimal vaccine strategy.

If authorized, this would be the first vaccine applicable to the youngest pediatric group.

A recent study examined whether immune response to the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine differed by age and gender.

The filing included data from their phase 2/3 trial in this pediatric age group.

Immune escape for the BA.2 subvariant, or “stealth Omicron,” was not as severe as that of the original Omicron variant, a new study suggests.

Investigators used electronic health records (EHR) to perform surveillance of the safety of 3 doses of the COVID-19 mRNA vaccines.

A group of over 60 scientists participated in a communication to the federal agency to advocate for measuring these cells in COVID-19 vaccine trials.

Investigators consider the low rate of vaccination in the rapidly increasing migrant populations in Europe, and call for improved strategies.

The investigational vaccine's findings from their phase 1/2 clinical trial were reported at the World Vaccine Congress.

With an evolving understanding of T-cells in immunity and emerging SARS-Co-V2 strains, evaluating these vital protection cells can offer researchers insights into response and how to develop future therapies and vaccines.

The company says its first bivalent investigational vaccine, mRNA-1273.211, was efficacious against the Beta, Delta, and Omicron strains. They have identified another bivalent booster, mRNA-1273.214, which the company sees as its leading candidate for a fall 2022 scheduled dosing.

The 36-fold increase in Omicron neutralizing titers in children between 5-11 years old is providing data for the companies to be able to file for an FDA EUA in this age group.

A study presented at the SHEA 2022 conference determined how common and severe breakthrough infections were for Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, and Janssen COVID-19 vaccine recipients.

Although the numbers overall remain relatively low, the city states the rising cases as the reason for its decision.

Adding v-safe active monitoring to VAERS passive reporting produced "most comprehensive" program, and affirmed COVID-19 vaccine safety.

Here is a rundown of the most popular stories we covered this past week.

As this is National Public Health Week, and COVID-19 is still top of mind for clinicians and public health officials, what is it going to take for it to become a secondary issue.

After the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) fully authorized the Pfizer-BioNTech mRNA vaccine, series-completing second doses increased substantially. However, first vaccine doses were actually administered at lower rates after the approval.

New data coming from Israel shows the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine did offer some protection initially, but waning immunity occurs rapidly.

A pair of new studies in the Journal of the American Medical Association add to growing evidence that COVID-19 vaccines are safe during pregnancy, showing no increased risk for adverse outcomes among women who were vaccinated during pregnancy and their babies.

Here is a rundown of the most popular stories we covered this past week.