The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Jan. 31 gave full approval to Moderna Inc.’s COVID-19 vaccine for people ages 18 and older, making Spikevax the second fully approved vaccine for the virus.
Amidst news of current COVID-19 vaccines proving less effective against infections with Delta and Omicron variants of the disease, researchers are turning toward the development of pan-coronavirus vaccines that would work effectively against multiple variants. Scientists and researchers at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center (WRNMC) in Maryland have been doing just that over the past two years and announced they are testing the vaccine in humans in a Phase I study.
Spotify Technology SA will add a “content advisory” to any podcast episode that includes discussion about COVID-19, Chief Executive Officer Daniel Ek said, after coming under fire from rock and folk legends for giving voice to misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines.
A COVID-19 vaccine that can be produced locally in low-income and middle-income countries is yielding promising results in early clinical trials, researchers say. Other researchers believe that once the body has been “primed” by mRNA vaccines to recognize and attack the coronavirus, a booster containing purified versions of virus’ spike protein that could be given intranasally would have many advantages.
The prevailing theory about the Omicron variant is that it is going to rip through the population quickly and possibly burn out, marking the downside of the COVID-19 pandemic. But researchers are expressing concern about a subvariant of Omicron dubbed BA.2 that appears to be tearing through Denmark, just as the first Omicron wave subsided.
The World Health Organization (WHO) is looking into allegations a regional director in Asia bullied staff, used racist language and leaked sensitive vaccine data to Japan, accusations the official denies.
After a U.S. District Court judge ruled that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration must begin disclosing data surrounding the approval of COVID-19 vaccines within a span of eight months, Pfizer hopes to step in to ensure that no trade secrets are disclosed when the regulatory agency begins to share that information.
In the last two years, the sheer volume of scientific research focused on COVID-19 has been astounding: thousands of clinical studies, dozens of vaccines and new compounds, and hundreds of approved drugs tested for efficacy. More studies are still being run, especially in light of the Omicron surge and the virus’ ability to evolve.
Moderna Inc. started a mid-stage study, testing a booster dose of the company’s COVID-19 vaccine specifically designed to target the Omicron coronavirus variant, a day after rival Pfizer Inc. launched a similar trial.
COVID-19 vaccines using mRNA technology do not affect fertility outcomes during in-vitro fertilization (IVF), researchers found. Other new findings suggest the bacteria living in the small intestine may contribute to the risk for long COVID after infection with SARS-CoV-2.
