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☆ CDC Oversells the ‘Bivalent’ Covid Shot
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-22 | by ( Paul A. Offit | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that everyone over 12 receive a “bivalent” Covid-19 vaccine as a booster dose. But only a select group are likely to benefit, and the evidence to date doesn’t support the view that a bivalent vaccine containing omicron or its subvariants is better than the monovalent vaccine. The existing Pfizer and Moderna mRNA vaccines were designed to protect against the original strain of the novel coronavirus, known as Wuhan-1. Between January 2020 and December 2021, D614G was replaced by the alpha variant then the delta variant. At the end of 2021, Oxford conducted a study to determine whether the mRNA vaccines still provided protection against severe illness and death caused by the variants.

☆ Omicron-specific Covid boosters for children ages 5 to 11 are 'only a matter of weeks away,' says FDA vaccine chief
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-22 | by ( Annika Kim Constantino | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

New omicron-specific Covid boosters for children ages 5 to 11 are "only a matter of weeks away," according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's vaccine chief. Marks added that an authorization for the youngest age group — kids under 5 — is still "a few months away." The CDC expects Pfizer's redesigned booster to be for children ages 5 to 11, and Moderna's to be for children ages 6 to 17. Currently, children ages 5 to 11 are only eligible to receive Covid vaccines for their primary series, and a single monovalent booster dose from Pfizer. If the new bivalent boosters receive approval from the FDA and CDC, the monovalent boosters may no longer be authorized for the age group, according to the CDC's planning guide.

☆ Pfizer applies to Swissmedic for authorisation of another COVID-19 vaccine
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterPeople pose with syringe with needle in front of displayed Pfizer logo in this illustration taken, December 11, 2021. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/IllustrationBERLIN, Sept 22 (Reuters) - Pfizer said on Thursday it had submitted an application to Swissmedic for authorisation of a further bivalent COVID-19 vaccine. The ready-to-use dispersion for injection contained both messenger RNA (mRNA) from the original Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine and mRNA coding for the spike protein of Omicron variants BA.4 and BA.5, Pfizer said. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Kirsti Knolle Editing by Paul CarrelOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ U.S. CDC expects Omicron COVID boosters for kids by mid-October
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

REUTERS/Hannah BeierSept 21 (Reuters) - The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention expects COVID-19 vaccine boosters targeting circulating variants of the virus to be available for children aged 5-11 years by mid-October. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterThe CDC said it expects Pfizer-BioNTech's (PFE.N), bivalent vaccine to be available for children aged 5-11 years, and Moderna's (MRNA.O) vaccine for those aged 6-17 years, pending FDA authorization. The Pfizer vaccine is already authorized as a booster dose for children over 12 years of age, while Moderna's bivalent vaccine is authorized for adults. The CDC expects pre-orders for the Pfizer shot to begin for the age group next week. The Moderna vaccine will have the same formulation for children and adults and will not require a separate pre-order period, the CDC said.

☆ Is the Pandemic ‘Over,’ or Not?
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-20 | by ( The Editorial Board | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

President Biden finally dared to say it on Sunday, declaring in an interview on CBS ’s “60 Minutes” that the “pandemic is over.” Various public-health eminences are saying he’s wrong, but his comments recognize the reality of the disease at this stage and the public mood. The trouble is that his Administration still hasn’t lifted its official finding of a Covid public-health emergency. Eric Topol , the Scripps Research Translational Institute director who is one of America’s leading Covid scolds, tweeted “Wish this was true. What’s over is @POTUS’s and our government’s will to get ahead of it, with magical thinking on the new bivalent boosters. Ignores #LongCovid, inevitability of new variants, and our current incapability for blocking infections and transmission.”

☆ France clears Omicron-adapted COVID boosters for autumn vaccination drive
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Test tube labelled "COVID-19 Omicron variant test positive" is seen in this illustration picture taken January 15, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File PhotoPARIS, Sept 20 (Reuters) - France's HAS health authority on Tuesday followed the European Union's drug regulator and cleared two separate COVID-19 vaccine boosters updated to target the Omicron variant. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterThe European Union's drug regulator gave a green light on Sept. 1, ahead of an anticipated rise in COVID infections this winter. The EU-wide recommendation is to authorise the vaccines for people aged 12 and above who have received at least primary vaccination against COVID. People close to those risk groups and health workers exposed to them should also receive a shot this autumn, it said.

☆ U.S. delivers over 25 mln COVID boosters; Moderna's shot in limited supply
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

A nurse fills up syringes with the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccines for residents who are over 50 years old and immunocompromised and are eligible to receive their second booster shots in Waterford, Michigan, U.S., April 8, 2022. Both CVS and Walgreens said they are working with the government to acquire more Moderna doses and have not seen any supply issues for the Pfizer/BioNTech booster. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterIn August, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration authorized Pfizer and Moderna's updated booster shots that target the dominant BA.4 and BA.5 Omicron subvariants, as the country prepares for a broad fall revaccination campaign. It said it expects to ship the 70 million doses by the end of the year, as promised in its contract. The U.S. has ordered more than 170 million updated vaccine booster shots for this fall when all individuals aged 12 and over who have already received the initial doses of the vaccine are being encouraged to receive a booster shot.

☆ Covid will be a leading cause of death in the U.S. indefinitely, whether or not the pandemic is 'over'
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-19 | by ( Aria Bendix | Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Shannon-Pettypiece-Circle-Byline-Template.Jpg | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +6 min

But disease experts said debating whether the pandemic is over overshadows a more important concern: the reality that Covid will remain a leading cause of death in the U.S. indefinitely. Since April, Covid deaths have stayed relatively flat, at a weekly average of around 300 to 500 per day. Predicting Covid's future death tollThe Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, or IHME, a research organization at the University of Washington that regularly models Covid deaths, predicts a decline in Covid deaths over the next two months. Covid death numbers could also fall if hospitals stop routinely testing people for the virus. Murray estimated that half of annual Covid deaths may fall into that category.

☆ Time to get your Omicron booster shot. Here's everything you need to know about the 2 vaccines offered, and when to get it.
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-09 | by ( Hilary Brueck | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

New, reformulated COVID-19 booster shots are out from Pfizer and Moderna. These may be the last free COVID-19 vaccines you'll getThis fall booster campaign is likely the last chance you'll get to have free COVID-19 shots from the US government. Epidemiologist Katelyn Jetelina recommends waiting at least two months after a COVID-19 infection, the same as you would after any previous COVID-19 shot. "One COVID-19 shot, once a year, each fall," he said on Tuesday in a statement. Many are hoping that new kinds of COVID-19 vaccines being developed could be better long-term solutions than the shots we have now.

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