Omicron News and Research

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England's Chief Medical Officer calls on the public to get booster vaccination

Chief Medical Officer for England Professor Chris Whitty will call on the public to get a booster vaccination, in a nationwide advertising campaign launching today (Tuesday 14 December) to further galvanize the booster program.

14 Dec 2021

Evaluating the exclusion of unvaccinated people in the prevention of SARS-CoV-2 transmission

New study results suggest that the numbers needed to exclude model and baseline infection risk could be key indicators of the drawbacks and benefits of vaccine mandates and vaccine passports.

14 Dec 2021

Machine learning method for determining impact of mutations in the SARS-CoV-2 RBD on binding and antibody escape

Deep mutational learning (DML) is a technique developed by researchers from multiple institutions that combines experimental yeast display screening of RBD mutagenesis libraries with deep sequencing and machine learning.

14 Dec 2021

Trial in sub-Saharan Africa evaluates the efficacy of COVID-19 vaccine in people living with HIV

A highly anticipated clinical trial in eight sub-Saharan countries is the first to specifically evaluate the efficacy of a COVID-19 vaccine in people living with HIV, including those with poorly controlled infections.

13 Dec 2021

Omicron variant may strike double vaccinated

Largely, scientists are skeptical that the Omicron variant can infect vaccinated individuals. However, a new study published on the medRxiv* preprint server has conducted neutralization assays using an Omicron isolate obtained from patients residing in the United Kingdom.

13 Dec 2021

New England research on population immunity and SARS-CoV-2

A new study discusses a model-based reconstruction of SARS-CoV-2 attack rate and population-immunity curves for three New England states.

13 Dec 2021

Iota-carrageenan inhibits replication of SARS-CoV-2 VOCs

Scientists have recently reported the efficacy of carrageenan against both the SARS-CoV-2 original strain as well as the Alpha, Beta, Gamma, and Delta VOCs.

13 Dec 2021

SARS-CoV-2 omicron variant may evade host immune responses

A recent study has demonstrated that the omicron variant of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 has a higher ability to evade antibody-mediated neutralization than other variants of concern.

13 Dec 2021

Third dose of SARS-CoV-2 vaccine increases protection against omicron variant

A new study examines the variation in vaccine effectiveness against virus variants using estimated reductions in neutralizing antibody levels from published studies.

13 Dec 2021

750 Armed Forces personnel step up to accelerate the vaccine booster program

750 Armed Forces personnel have been made available to support the NHS, the Department of Health and Social Care and Scottish Government to accelerate the vaccine booster program.

13 Dec 2021

Effectiveness of COVID-19 booster vaccination strategies in partially vaccinated populations

Study reveals that the most beneficial vaccination strategy is to distribute all available doses of COVID-19 vaccines predominantly for primary vaccinations and the remaining doses for boosters.

12 Dec 2021

Even if SARS-CoV-2 Omicron evades antibodies, immunity still exists

Researchers determined antibody-mediated neutralization efficacy against the authentic SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant.

12 Dec 2021

A new rapid and inexpensive PCR method to detect SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant

A new study reports a method using four PCR tests to distinguish infection with the Omicron variant from that caused by other variants.

12 Dec 2021

New tool to help map immune escape with SARS-CoV-2 mutations

A new study discusses a computational program that can be used to substitute for actual experimental evidence of the biologic impact of new mutations.

12 Dec 2021

UK Prime Minister and the NHS launch urgent appeal calling for people to get Covid jabs

The Prime Minister, together with the NHS, has today [Sunday 12 December] launched an urgent national appeal calling for people to get jabbed, as he outlined plans to significantly increase NHS vaccination capacity.

12 Dec 2021

Vaccinated, previously-infected people could have some "stronger than basic" defense against Omicron variant

Published today, one of the earliest, peer-reviewed studies looking into the Omicron variant of COVID-19 suggests that people previously infected with COVID, and those vaccinated, will have some, "stronger than basic" defense against this new strain of concern.

12 Dec 2021

Health experts recommend the increase in UK COVID-19 alert level from Level 3 to Level 4

Following advice from the UK Health Security Agency and in the light of the rapid increase in Omicron cases, the UK Chief Medical Officers and NHS England National Medical Director have recommended to ministers that the UK COVID-19 alert level should increase from Level 3 to Level 4.

12 Dec 2021

Fully vaccinated contacts of a COVID-19 case should take daily rapid tests for 7 days

From Tuesday 14 December, people who are fully vaccinated and identified as a contact of someone with COVID-19 - whether Omicron or not - should take an NHS rapid lateral flow test every day for 7 days to help slow the spread of COVID-19.

12 Dec 2021

First locally acquired infection of Omicron variant confirmed in San Diego

Officials at the San Diego County Health and Human Services Agency, working in collaboration with scientists at University of California San Diego and Scripps Research, have announced the second confirmed case — and first locally acquired infection — of the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.

12 Dec 2021

LSHTM's new modeling estimates the potential impact of omicron in England

New modeling from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine suggests the Omicron variant has the potential to cause a wave of transmission in England that could lead to higher levels of cases and hospitalizations than those seen during January 2021, if additional control measures are not taken.

12 Dec 2021

Omicron News and Research

England's Chief Medical Officer calls on the public to get booster vaccination

Evaluating the exclusion of unvaccinated people in the prevention of SARS-CoV-2 transmission

Machine learning method for determining impact of mutations in the SARS-CoV-2 RBD on binding and antibody escape

Trial in sub-Saharan Africa evaluates the efficacy of COVID-19 vaccine in people living with HIV

Omicron variant may strike double vaccinated

New England research on population immunity and SARS-CoV-2

Iota-carrageenan inhibits replication of SARS-CoV-2 VOCs

SARS-CoV-2 omicron variant may evade host immune responses

Third dose of SARS-CoV-2 vaccine increases protection against omicron variant

750 Armed Forces personnel step up to accelerate the vaccine booster program

Effectiveness of COVID-19 booster vaccination strategies in partially vaccinated populations

Even if SARS-CoV-2 Omicron evades antibodies, immunity still exists

A new rapid and inexpensive PCR method to detect SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant

New tool to help map immune escape with SARS-CoV-2 mutations

UK Prime Minister and the NHS launch urgent appeal calling for people to get Covid jabs

Vaccinated, previously-infected people could have some "stronger than basic" defense against Omicron variant

Health experts recommend the increase in UK COVID-19 alert level from Level 3 to Level 4

Fully vaccinated contacts of a COVID-19 case should take daily rapid tests for 7 days

First locally acquired infection of Omicron variant confirmed in San Diego

LSHTM's new modeling estimates the potential impact of omicron in England

Sensing a Healthier Future

Achieving and maintaining ISO/IEC 27001 and BS 10012 certifications

Expanding research and clinical options for children with cancer

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