COVID-19

Pfizer Inc and BioNTech SE announced that the companies have submitted an application to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for emergency use authorization (EUA) of their Omicron BA.4/BA.5-adapted bivalent COVID-19 vaccine as the third 3-µg dose in the three-dose primary series for children 6 months through 4 years of age. With the high level of respiratory illnesses currently circulating among children under 5 years of age, updated COVID-19 vaccines may help prevent severe illness and hospitalization.

Scientists have identified a drug that can be repurposed to prevent COVID-19 in research involving a unique mix of ‘mini-organs’, donor organs, animal studies and patients.

A comprehensive review and meta-analysis of published research confirm that young adults (40 years old and younger) have a slightly elevated risk for myocarditis or pericarditis after mRNA COVID-19 vaccination. The analysis is reported in a new study in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, published by Elsevier.

Novavax, Inc a biotechnology company dedicated to developing and commercializing next-generation vaccines for serious infectious diseases, today announced that the Novavax COVID-19 Vaccine, Adjuvanted (NVX-CoV2373) has received emergency use authorization (EUA) from the U.S.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration amended the emergency use authorizations (EUAs) of the Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine, Bivalent and the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine, Bivalent to authorize their use as a single booster dose in younger age groups. The Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine, Bivalent is authorized for administration at least two months following completion of primary or booster vaccination in children down to six years of age.

Simple nasal washes with mild saline water can prevent hospitalisation and deaths from COVID-19, if applied twice daily following a positive diagnosis, according to research led by the US-based Augusta University.

it may be the most baffling quirk of COVID: What manifests as minor, flu-like symptoms in some individuals spirals into severe disease, disability, or even death in others. A new paper published in Nature may explain the genetic underpinnings of this dichotomy.

Neutralizing antibody levels against the original COVID-19 virus and omicron variants in vaccinated adults tend to decline by at least 15% per month after a single booster shot, a new study using serum from human blood samples suggests. 

Data from two adults in the same study who had a dramatic loss in antibodies but received a second booster showed that the second dose completely restored antibodies to protective levels.

A new study from Israel found that the risk of developing myocarditis among males ages 16 to 19 years was about 1 in 15,000 after third dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, and the cases were rare and mild, according to new research published today in the American Heart Association’s flagship journal Circulation.

Pfizer Inc and BioNTech SE announced that the companies have initiated a randomized, active-controlled, observer-blind, Phase 2 study to evaluate the safety, tolerability, and immune response of an enhanced COVID-19 mRNA-based vaccine candidate at a 30 µg dose level. This next-generation bivalent COVID-19 vaccine candidate, BNT162b5, consists of RNAs encoding enhanced prefusion spike proteins for the SARS-CoV-2 ancestral strain (wild-type) and an Omicron variant.