AstraZeneca said on March 21 the company’s antibody-based cocktail to prevent and treat COVID-19 retained neutralizing activity against Omicron coronavirus variants, including the highly contagious BA.2 sub-variant, in an independent lab study.

While Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech have submitted Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) requests for their COVID-19 vaccines, the data so far suggest the benefits of a fourth shot may be modest.

A World Health Organization spokesperson said on March 18 that the end of the COVID-19 pandemic was a long way off, citing a rise in cases in the WHO’s latest weekly data.

U.S. President Joe Biden on March 17 named public health expert Dr. Ashish Jha to replace White House COVID-19 coordinator Jeff Zients, who will leave his post in April, as the administration prepares for new COVID-19 variants and infection surges that could hit the country.

The head of the World Health Organization said on March 16 that a global rise in COVID-19 cases could be the tip of the iceberg as some countries also report a drop in testing rates.

The BA.2 sub-variant of Omicron was estimated to be 23.1 percent of the coronavirus variants circulating in the United States as of March 12, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said on March 15.

Many countries around the world that appeared to have kicked COVID-19 are reporting surges, largely the result of the so-called “stealth” Omicron variant, BA.2.

The White House said on March 14 that the Omicron BA.2 sub-variant of COVID-19 had been circulating in the United States for some time, with roughly 35,000 cases at the moment, and more money was needed to help fight it.

The BA.2 sub-variant of Omicron was estimated to be 11.6% of the coronavirus variants circulating in the United States as of March 5, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said on March 8.

Patients infected with the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 remain contagious for just as long as patients infected with earlier variants, according to a small study. Additionally, researchers said a drug used to treat a blood vessel condition called angioedema showed promise as a treatment for COVID-19 in lab experiments.