The World Health Organization said on Friday that it was not clear whether Covid-19 booster vaccines will be needed to maintain protection, until further data is collected.
While several countries are relying on Sinovac Biotech’s coronavirus disease 2019 vaccine to end the pandemic, concerns regarding the shot’s efficacy continue to shroud CoronaVac, which is the second most used Covid-19 vaccine product across the globe.
Following a manufacturing mistake that left Emergent BioSolutions with a botched batch of Johnson & Johnson’s Covid-19 vaccine, the company is facing a shareholder lawsuit accusing it of insider trading.
Israel reported on July 5 a decrease in the effectiveness of the Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine in preventing infections and symptomatic illness, but said it remained highly effective in preventing serious illness.
The United States had administered 330,604,253 doses of Covid-19 vaccines in the country as of the morning of July 4 and distributed 383,068,740 doses, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration authorized the use of an additional batch of Johnson & Johnson’s one-dose Covid-19 vaccine manufactured at the problem-plagued Baltimore factory of Emergent BioSolutions Inc.
Johnson & Johnson said the company’s single-shot Covid-19 vaccine showed promise against the highly contagious Delta variant in a laboratory study.
The highly transmissible Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2, first identified in India, has become the most prevalent variant among new Covid-19 cases in the United States, according to California-based genomics company Helix.
Maryland-based Altimmune is discontinuing research into the clinical-stage biopharmaceutical firm’s intranasal Covid-19 vaccine following “disappointing” results.
Moderna Inc.’s Covid-19 vaccine produced neutralizing antibodies against emerging variants, including the Delta variant first identified in India, in a lab study.