The Omicron-adapted COVID-19 vaccine booster developed by Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE sharply reduced hospitalizations among older patients, Israeli researchers said on Monday, in some of the first evidence of the jab’s real-world effectiveness.
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No new coronavirus variant has been found in China, data released by the World Health Organization showed on Wednesday, easing some concerns about an outbreak that has spread rapidly there since Beijing abruptly reversed its “zero COVID” policy.
Leading scientists advising the World Health Organization said they wanted a “more realistic picture” about the COVID-19 situation from China’s top experts at a key meeting on Tuesday as worries grow about the rapid spread of the virus.
State media in China played down the severity of a surge of COVID-19 infections ahead of an expected briefing on Tuesday by its scientists to the World Health Organization, which is hoping for a “detailed discussion” on the evolution of the virus.
Around 9,000 people in China are probably dying each day from COVID-19, UK-based health data firm Airfinity said on Thursday, nearly doubling its estimate from a week ago, as infections ripped across the world’s most populous nation.
Chinese hospitals and funeral homes were under intense pressure on Wednesday as a surging COVID-19 wave drained resources, while the scale of the outbreak and doubts over official data prompted some countries to consider new travel rules on Chinese visitors.
Japan on Wednesday recorded 415 COVID-19 deaths, the highest-ever count for a single day, health ministry data showed.
In more than three decades of emergency medicine, Beijing-based doctor Howard Bernstein said, he has never seen anything like this.
The risk of death, hospitalization and serious health issues from COVID-19 jumps significantly with reinfection compared with a first bout with the virus, regardless of vaccination status, a study published on Thursday suggests.
Life expectancy fell in the United States in 2021 to its lowest since 1996, the second year of a historic retreat due to COVID-19 deaths, provisional government data showed on Wednesday.
