Severe obesity may weaken the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines in those who have never been infected with the coronavirus, according to a small Turkish study. Additionally, South African researchers have found infection with the Omicron variant of the coronavirus can significantly improve the immune system’s ability to protect against other variants, but only in people who have been vaccinated.
Moderna Inc. on May 4 forecast higher vaccine sales for the second half of 2022 than in the first six months of the year, as the company expects the virus that causes COVID-19 to follow a more seasonal pattern requiring booster shots in the fall.
Asthma in children may worsen after an infection with the coronavirus, doctors warn. Additionally, among people who were previously infected with the coronavirus, a third dose of an mRNA vaccine from Pfizer/BioNTech or Moderna may not boost their protection against the Omicron variant of the virus, according to new data.
Moderna Inc.’s chief medical officer said on Sunday the company’s vaccine for children under 6 years old will be ready for review by a Food and Drug Administration panel when it meets in June.
A shareholder proposal calling on Moderna Inc. to study transferring production of COVID-19 vaccines to less-developed countries won 24 percent support from investors on April 28 after the company received a rare endorsement from the World Health Organization.
Moderna Inc. asked U.S. regulators to authorize the company’s COVID-19 vaccine for children under the age of 6, which would make it the first shot against the coronavirus available for those under 5-years-old.
CureVac and GSK’s second-generation vaccine candidate targeting two recent COVID-19 variants has been shown to be highly effective in preclinical studies on mice, CureVac said, as the biotech firm seeks to catch up with rivals’ development work.
Moderna plans to submit an application to the U.S. health regulator for emergency use authorization (EUA) of the company’s COVID-19 vaccine among kids between the ages of six months to five years by the end of the month, a company spokesperson said.
COVID-19 cases and deaths are declining in the Americas, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) said on April 20, with infections last week having dropped 2.3 percent and deaths falling 15.2 percent from the prior week. The broad trend comes even as cases have scaled up in North America with an 11.2 percent increase last week, the organization said.
Moderna Inc. on April 19 said a COVID-19 booster designed to target the Beta variant as well as the original coronavirus generated a better immune response against a number of virus variants including Omicron.
Reuters
Reuters
Reuters