Coronavirus / COVID

Economists from Johns Hopkins argue against government-mandated lockdowns and that they did not have the intended health care policy of protecting people during the pandemic.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) voted 13-0 in favor of the vaccine for adults.

COVID-19 patients who were vitamin D deficient before infection were 14 times more likely to have severe or fatal COVID-19 disease.

Findings could help in the development of “screening biomarkers and/or therapeutics,” authors say.

Pfizer-BioNTech asked the FDA for Emergency Use Authorization to administer its COVID-19 vaccine to children 6 months-5 years of age, despite evidence that 2 vaccine doses may not be enough to elicit the desired immune response.

Veru inc. received FDA Fast Track designation for the phase 3 trial oral sabizabulin, a treatment for hospitalized COVID-19 patients at high risk of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) or death.

Health care workers in Taiwan who were previously infected with SARS-CoV-1 showed a more robust antibody response to the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, a new study found.

Backed by solid data, clinicians can work to overcome vaccine hesitancy due to fears about negative pregnancy outcomes.

Moderna recipients were less likely to experience COVID-19 breakthrough infections and hospitalizations than the Pfizer-BioNTech group.

The company’s Spikvax vaccine was approved based on its submission that included efficacy and safety data approximately 6 months after second dose.

The first study to use optical genome mapping to assess severely ill COVID-19 patients identified 7 key structural variants.

A booster vaccination increases protection against COVID-19 whether homologous or heterologous with the primary vaccine.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) compared 2-dose mRNA vaccination to third dose booster and to unvaccinated, against both Omicron and Delta variants of SARS-CoV-2.

Before children were authorized to receive the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, living with 1-2 fully vaccinated parents significantly reduced children’s risk of COVID-19 infection during the Alpha and Delta periods.

A new study sought to address how we approach treatments for these patients.

The expectation of COVID-19 vaccination side effects may be leading some placebo recipients to report adverse events in vaccine trials.

In a JAMA viewpoint, authors stressed the need for a US national strategy for a “new normal” of living that includes COVID-19.

Company announced it had administered its first shot to a participant for its extension of an earlier phase 2 study.

Key opinion leaders provide some advice for the public regarding COVID-19 booster shots and look to the future of the pandemic.

Drs Angela Rasmussen and Donald Alcendor detail the roadblocks facing COVID-19 booster shots.

Experiencing myocarditis after COVID-19 mRNA vaccination is rare, but more likely among persons under 24 years and male.

BA.2, Omicron’s “cousin” variant, has been detected in the US. It initially appears to be more contagious, but not more dangerous.

With fewer monoclonal antibody treatments effective against the Omicron variant, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) now recommends direct-acting antivirals.

The trend follows predictions that COVID-19 mitigation would lead to case reduction.

The FDA cited monoclonal antibodies as being less effective against the Omicron variant in their decision to rescind their earlier approval of the COVID-19 treatment.

The companies said the vaccines will be examined in adults 18-55 years old.

The virus was third-leading cause of death nationally, CDC reports.

Nearly 75% of COVID-19 patients admitted to the ICU were symptomatic 1 year later, most commonly reporting weakened condition and musculoskeletal problems.

Omicron is less effective at antagonizing host cell interferon response, explaining why it causes less severe disease than prior COVID-19 variants.

Casirivimab/imdevimab protected uninfected contacts from COVID-19 and reduced symptomatic infections in trials before Omicron emerged.