LONDON – A new SARS-CoV-2 sub-variant is showing signs of outcompeting the omicron variant that was first reported in South Africa in late November 2021, and within a month had taken over from its delta predecessor, accounting for 98.8 % of sequenced cases worldwide, as of Jan.25.
Administering multiple booster doses against COVID-19 is not sustainable in the longer term, international drug regulators said during a meeting of the International Coalition of Medicines Regulatory Authorities, held Jan. 12. Regulators argued that a long-term strategy should involve vaccines capable of tackling several variants at once, not just omicron, and that tweaking existing vaccines and comparing them with first-generation vaccines using clinical studies is the way forward, according to a report from the meeting.
LONDON – Each of six different COVID-19 vaccines given as booster doses were safe and increased immunity when administered after two doses of either Pfizer Inc.’s or Astrazeneca plc’s vaccine, according to the latest data from the U.K. Cov-Boost trial.
Given the ethics and feasibility of placebo-controlled COVID-19 vaccine trials, Access Consortium members are recognizing appropriately designed immunobridging studies as an acceptable approach for authorizing the vaccines, including those being developed to protect against SARS-CoV-2 variants.
A whole genome sequencing study has been the first to demonstrate a strong association between infection with the avian influenza A virus H7N9 and rare, heterozygous single-nucleotide variants in the MX1 gene encoding for the myxovirus resistance protein A.
In infectious disease research, most of the research into genetic determinants of susceptibility to infection and disease severity are focused on the host. For COVID-19, for example, the delta variant’s infectivity, and how likely infection is to lead to severe disease, is the focus of an intense research agenda. But host genetics, too, contribute to the consequences of infections. An ongoing study into the host genetics of SARS-CoV-2 infection has identified 13 such factors that affected either the likelihood of contracting SARS-CoV-2, or the severity of disease, gleaned from the data of 50,000 infected persons and 2 million controls.
The COVID-19 vaccine from Curevac AG looks far less protective than mRNA-based rivals, according to phase IIb/III data, but the company suggested it could still be approved in younger age groups or supplied to poorer countries at lower cost.
Amid what Moderna Inc. called "overwhelming" demand from global governments for mRNA vaccines and boosters with efficacy against SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern, the company said both its authorized vaccine, mRNA-1273, and a strain-matched candidate, mRNA-1273.351, increased neutralizing titers against the variants.
