A fourth shot of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine administered to individuals who received their third shot nearly five months ago produces a five-fold increase in antibodies, according to preliminary results of a first-in-the-world trial being conducted in Israel. The news comes on the same day that the country announced it would launch a trial to […] Continue reading ->
The world’s first case of “flurona” – a co-infection with both seasonal influenza and COVID-19 was reported in Israel last week, as the Omicron variant sweeps across the world. Since then, small numbers of people co-infected with both viruses have been identified in other European countries as well, a World Health Organization official in the […] Continue reading ->
Two new large scale reviews of the effects of the two-dose Pfizer’s mRNA vaccine in children aged 5-11 shows fewer severe effects than in older groups. Tuesday’s report, by the Israeli Health Fund Maccabi covering more than 20,000 children, comes on the heels of a similar US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) study […] Continue reading ->
JERUSALEM – Israel once again has placed itself in the middle of the global clinical debate on the medical benefits of a fourth Pfizer shot to slow the Omicron wave, when it became the first country to approve such an injection for all citizens over the age of 60 and healthcare workers. Israeli Prime Minister […] Continue reading ->
A new South African study shows that a second Johnson & Johnson dose, administered 6-9 months after the initial single-dose vaccine provided 84% protection against hospitalization from the Omicron SARS-CoV2 variant – results that even outperformed those of an earlier South African study looking at effectiveness of the two-dose Pfizer regime in the face of […] Continue reading ->
As the world marks two years since the emergence of the first reports about a “novel coronavirus” circulating in Wuhan China, countries in Europe, North America and elsewhere are facing yet another “tsunami” of infections – this time driven by the highly-infectious Omicron variant, warned WHO Director General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. He spoke at […] Continue reading ->
Vaccine equity advocates see huge potential in India’s decision to grant an emergency use license to CORBEVAX™, an open-license vaccine dubbed “The World’s COVID-19 Vaccine” by its developers at Texas Children’s Hospital and Baylor College of Medicine. The protein sub-unit vaccine, engineered at Baylor’s Center for Vaccine Development (CVD), received the Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) […] Continue reading ->
A major new British study has provided encouraging data that people infected with the Omicron variant are 20% less like to visit a hospital and 40% less likely to be admitted overnight than those with the Delta variant. The Imperial College study, published Thursday, looked at everyone with a confirmed infection of either variant in […] Continue reading ->
In a historic first, World Trade Organization (WTO) members launched three high-level ministerial statements calling for the global trade body to support fossil fuel subsidy reforms and measures to reduce plastics pollution of land and seas. The pivotal new statements call for a “phase out of inefficient fossil fuel subsidies”, a key driver of climate […] Continue reading ->
Rapidly Spreading Omicron is Now in 77 Countries and WHO Warns Against Assuming its Effects are Mild
Omicron is now in 77 countries, spreading at a rate not seen by other COVID-19 variants and countries should not assume that it is mild, warned World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Tuesday. Even if people get milder symptoms from Omicron, the sheer number of cases could overcome health systems that […] Continue reading ->