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Moderna to File for EUA of COVID Shot for Very Young Kids by April End
Moderna (MRNA.O) plans to submit an application to the U.S. health regulator for emergency use authorization (EUA) of its COVID-19 vaccine among kids between the ages of six months to five years by end of the month, a company spokesperson said on Wednesday.
The Omicron variant was predominant during Moderna’s pediatric trial, and the drugmaker said two doses were around 38% effective in preventing infections in 2 to 5-year-olds and 44% effective for children aged 6 months to under 2 years.
Fauci Says There Is ‘No Chance’ We Will Eliminate COVID Virus
Dr. Anthony Fauci has said that there is “no chance” that we can eliminate SARS-CoV-2, the respiratory syndrome that causes COVID-19.
In a Q&A session with USA TODAY Network-Tennessee, the lead advisor on the pandemic to the Biden administration said: “We’ve only eliminated one viral human pathogen in history — smallpox. And then there are the ones we’ve eliminated in this county, which are polio and measles.”
“The durability of protection SARS-CoV-2 from vaccination and immunity from exposure is not very long. And we have a situation where we have a lot of people not wanting to get vaccinated.”
Fauci‘s comments on vaccination reflect predictions he made recently in a paper published in the Journal of Infectious Diseases, which indicated that the classic concept of herd immunity protecting against a virus may not work for COVID.
COVID Infection as Protective as Vaccines, Study Finds
U.S. News & World Report reported:
A prior COVID-19 infection may provide unvaccinated adults with as much immunity against reinfection as the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna mRNA vaccines, new research suggests. However, the study was conducted before the surge of the highly transmissible Omicron variant.
“We found that, before the emergence of the Omicron variant, natural immunity provided a similar degree of protection against COVID-19 infection as mRNA vaccination,” said study author Dr. Ari Robicsek. He is chief medical analytics officer for the Providence health system, which operates in the western United States.
For the study, the investigators analyzed data from more than 100,000 adults tested for the coronavirus at 1,300 care sites in the Providence health system between Oct. 1, 2020 and Nov. 1, 2021.
Prior COVID-19 infection in unvaccinated people was 85% protective against reinfection and 88% protective against hospitalization, the findings showed. Protection from reinfection lasted for up to nine months after initial infection, which was the longest amount of time that patients were followed, the researchers said.
COVID: Breakthrough Cases Made up 47% of COVID Infections, Weekly Report Shows
The Chronicle Online reported:
With Oregon’s concern over COVID-19 receding and the widespread vaccination push losing steam, new data has emerged showing vaccine efficacy to be lower than previously thought. Vaccine breakthrough cases made up nearly half of Oregon’s COVID-19 cases in the latest report from the Oregon Health Authority (OHA).
OHA’s April 7 COVID-19 Breakthrough Report shows that between March 27 and April 2, of the 2,035 COVID-19 cases reported by the OHA 960 were vaccine breakthrough cases (47.2%). The figure could be even higher than the data shows, as the data includes positive tests reported to public health and not positive at-home tests.
The latest report from the agency on vaccination breakthrough deaths reveals a similar trend. In the month of March, 46.4% of reported COVID-19 deaths occurred in fully vaccinated people.
Woman Catches COVID Twice Within 20 Days, Marking a New Record
A healthcare worker has reportedly tested positive for the Omicron strain of the coronavirus just 20 days after having an infection caused by the Delta variant, according to Spanish researchers.
The case study of the 31-year-old woman, who was fully vaccinated and boosted, is to be presented by researchers at this year’s European Congress of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases taking place in Portugal this coming weekend.
The 20-day gap between the infections is the shortest known.
U.S. Child Vaccination Rates Dip During Pandemic — Study
Child vaccination rates in the United States fell during the COVID-19 pandemic as many children skipped doctors appointments and states eased vaccine requirements during remote learning, according to a government study released on Thursday.
During the 2020–21 school year, vaccination coverage among kindergartners nationwide for three required vaccines was approximately 1% lower than the previous school year, according to a study conducted by researchers from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The researchers looked at coverage for three commonly required vaccines: the MMR vaccine to prevent measles, mumps, and rubella; DTaP, which prevents diphtheria, tetanus, and acellular pertussis; and the varicella shot for chickenpox.
Waiting for a COVID Vaccine for Your Under-5 Kid? It May Take a Bit Longer
The Biden administration may now wait until as late as June to authorize a coronavirus vaccine for the nation’s youngest children, three people with knowledge of the matter told POLITICO.
The move marks yet another delay in the government’s effort to vaccinate children under the age of five and comes even as the U.S. lifts broader public health measures meant to protect Americans from the still-raging pandemic.
Administration health officials had once hoped to authorize first shots for young children at the beginning of this year. But scientific setbacks and broader practical concerns within the Food and Drug Administration have slowed progress, the people with knowledge of the matter said.
Now, regulators are leaning toward postponing any action until the early summer, arguing that it would be simpler and less confusing to simultaneously authorize and promote two vaccines to the public, rather than green-lighting one on a faster timetable and the other down the road.
Should People Wait Until the Fall for a Second Booster? CDC Panel Weighs In.
Just weeks after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended a second COVID-19 booster dose for people ages 50 and above, independent advisers to the agency are seeking to clear up confusion over which people in that age group may truly need that shot now and who could possibly wait until the fall for another dose.
During Wednesday’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) meeting, Elisha Hall, the clinical guidelines lead for the COVID-19 emergency response at the CDC, told the committee that people ages 50 and up should consider getting a second booster sooner rather than later if they have underlying health problems; live with others at high risk for severe COVID; or have jobs that put them at risk for COVID exposure, including those who travel or must gather in large groups.
People recently infected with the Omicron variant could also wait until the fall, Hall said.
As Original Omicron Disappears, These Are the BA.2 Subvariant’s Key Differences
The Omicron variant of the coronavirus has been dominant in the U.S. since December, but the version of Omicron that drove the major infection surge during the winter now accounts for less than 7% of new cases.
A more transmissible subvariant, BA.2, accounts for around three-quarters of U.S. cases. And BA.2, in turn, has spawned its own sublineage, BA.2.12.1, which appears to be gaining steam: It rose from 7% of U.S. cases in early April to 19% last week. The New York State Health Department said last week that BA.2.12.1 was most likely contributing to the state’s rise in case numbers.
So far, the key difference between the newer versions of Omicron and the one that previously rocketed through the U.S. is transmissibility. The White House’s chief medical adviser, Dr. Anthony Fauci, has estimated that BA.2 is 50% more transmissible than the original Omicron lineage.
WHO Says Global COVID Cases, Deaths Declined Again Last Week
The World Health Organization says that the number of reported new COVID-19 cases worldwide decreased by nearly a quarter last week, continuing a decline since the end of March.
The Geneva-based U.N. health agency said in a weekly report that nearly 5.59 million cases were reported between April 11 and 17, 24% fewer than in the previous week. The number of newly reported deaths dropped 21% to 18,215.
WHO said new cases declined in every region, though only by 2% in the Americas. The report was dated late Wednesday and sent to journalists on Thursday.
The agency said that “these trends should be interpreted with caution as several countries are progressively changing their COVID-19 testing strategies, resulting in lower overall numbers of tests performed and consequently lower numbers of cases detected.”
Even Short Exposure to Air Pollution Increases Risk of COVID Infection, Study Suggests
Exposure to air pollution might increase the likelihood of contracting COVID-19, according to a new study published in JAMA Network Open on Wednesday, adding to a growing body of research demonstrating the role air quality plays in the pandemic and the broader health costs of pollution.
Exposure to some traffic-related air pollutants was associated with a greater likelihood of testing positive for COVID-19 in young adults, according to a Swedish study of 425 people who tested positive on a PCR test between May 2020 through March 2021.
The study estimated exposure to four pollutants — nitrogen oxides, black carbon and particulate matter with a diameter less than 10 micrometers (PM10) and 2.5 micrometers (PM2.5) — based on participants’ home addresses, drawing from a cohort of more than 4,000 people born in Stockholm between 1994 and 1996 who have been monitored over time.
COVID and Seasonal Allergies Have Started to Look a Lot Alike. Here’s How to Tell Them Apart.
Something’s in the air this spring that’s making people wheeze and sneeze. It can make you fatigued, irritate your throat, and generally bog you down. But there’s a nagging question in early 2022: Is it pollen…or COVID?
The newest COVID surge in the U.S. is lining up with peak spring allergy season, and both conditions can manifest with the same symptoms, making it harder to tell whether you’re contagious or just suffering because you’ve been outside.
Another wrinkle in this year’s COVID/allergy season: the symptoms of the two maladies, which used to be clearly distinct, have started to bleed together.
