The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) on March 9 said COVID-19 cases fell by 26 percent across the Americas during the previous week while deaths from the virus dropped by nearly 19 percent, but cautioned that some effective measures to curb infections should be maintained.

Valneva is advancing toward U.S. FDA accelerated approval of the France-based biologics company’s VLA1553 after the specialty vaccine was shown to be safe and effective against mosquito-transmitted chikungunya disease, in a published analysis of Phase III results.

As Russia continues to bombard cities across Ukraine in artillery strikes, thousands of people have huddled in underground metro stations and bunkers to escape the devastation of those attacks. But another type of attack could result from this – a new outbreak of COVID-19 infection. 

Moderna Inc. plans to develop and begin testing vaccines targeting 15 of the world’s most worrisome pathogens by 2025 and will permanently waive the company’s COVID-19 vaccine patents for shots intended for certain low-income and middle-income countries.

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.

Pfizer Inc. said on March 1 the company’s vaccine to prevent infections from a bacteria that mainly spreads through hospitals and doctors’ offices and can even prove fatal, failed to meet the main goal of a late-stage study.

Patients with severe COVID-19 who develop diabetes while hospitalized may have only a temporary form of the disease and their blood sugar levels may return to normal afterward, according to new findings. Additionally, new data illustrate the jumps in U.S. coronavirus infection rates caused by the Omicron variant and the heavier toll it has taken on minorities in the latest example of racial disparity in the pandemic.

Clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company SAB Biotherapeutics announced an update to the design of the ongoing Phase 3 ACTIV-2 trial evaluating the clinical efficacy and safety of SAB-185 for the treatment of participants with mild-moderate COVID infections at higher risk for progression to hospitalization.

The Omicron BA.2 sub-variant of COVID-19 appears to be more infectious than the original BA.1 sub-variant, but does not cause more severe disease, the head of Africa’s top public health body said on February 24 citing data from South Africa.

Psychological stress from the pandemic may be widespread, but those who have had COVID-19 are at much higher risk for new mental health problems than individuals who have managed to avoid the virus, according to a new study. Additionally, researchers have found the BA.2 version of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus – while potentially more transmissible than its BA.1 predecessor – has not led to more hospitalizations or more severe disease in South Africa.