Philadelphia will again require masks in indoor public settings such as restaurants, schools and businesses starting next week, the city said on April 11, responding to what appears to be a fresh wave of coronavirus transmissions.

Although people who recover from COVID-19 usually gain some immune defenses against reinfection, they get additional protection from vaccines, especially against severe disease, according to two studies published on March 31 in The Lancet Infectious Diseases. Additionally, two gold-standard trials published in The New England Journal of Medicine on March 30 help settle questions about two controversial therapies touted by many early in the pandemic with decidedly mixed results – failure for the antiparasite drug ivermectin and success for antibody-rich blood plasma from COVID-19 survivors.

Children ages 5 to 11 who received the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine were 68% less likely to be hospitalized during the Omicron wave in the United States than unvaccinated children, according to a study published on March 30.

Certain drugs used to treat HIV may have a role in preventing SARS-CoV-2 infections, according to preliminary data that may help explain why people living with the condition have not appeared to be at higher risk for serious COVID-19 despite being generally more vulnerable to infections. Additionally, having COVID-19 and influenza at the same time puts hospitalized adults at much greater risk of critical illness and death compared to having COVID-19 without the flu, researchers reported in The Lancet.

Moderna is broadening the company’s vaccine horizons once again using mRNA technology, widely known for its use in COVID-19 vaccinations. Moderna announced two new vaccine development programs targeting a variety of viruses. 

Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla raked in $24.3 million in total compensation in 2021. In other news, tinnitus (ringing or buzzing in one or both ears) might be a side effect of COVID-19 vaccines.

Mainland China reported its first COVID-19 deaths in more than a year on March 19, according to a post on the National Health Commission’s website that said two people died in the northeastern region of Jilin.

The Omicron variant of the coronavirus is causing a dramatic rise in cases of croup, a dangerous respiratory condition usually seen in babies and toddlers, new data suggest. Additionally, new research sheds light on how a tuberculosis vaccine might help protect against COVID-19.

New COVID-19 infections in France rose by more than 25% on March 11 compared to one week earlier after rising more than 24% on March 10, as a downward trend that had started late January reversed.

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.