Vaccine News and Research

Latest Vaccine News and Research

Simulating transmission dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant

Researchers simulated the emergence of Omicron, a novel SARS-CoV-2 VOC, in a general European setting using an individual-based transmission model.

17 Dec 2021

Predicting local surges of COVID-19 hospitalizations in 2022

Researchers have identified simple and easy-to-communicate decision rules to provide early warnings - when a pre-specified threshold of hospital capacity will likely be exceeded within a four or eight week period.

17 Dec 2021

Modeling the potential interaction between COVID-19 outbreaks in susceptible and vaccinated sub-populations

Researchers demonstrated that the combination of infection of remaining susceptible individuals and breakthrough infections of vaccinated individuals promotes infection by invading variants.

17 Dec 2021

Vaccine effectiveness against COVID-19 caused by Omicron and Delta SARS-CoV-2 variants in England

Researchers performed a test-negative case-control study to determine the effectiveness of BNT162b2 and ChAdOx1 COVID-19 vaccines against the Omicron and Delta variants of SARS-CoV-2.

17 Dec 2021

Effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines among older male veterans

A new research letter assessed the effectiveness of the mRNA1273 and BNT162b2 vaccines among fully vaccinated male veterans who were 65 years of age or above from July to September 2021.

17 Dec 2021

Primary responses to SARS-CoV-2 in COVID-19 naïve vaccinees

Researchers evaluated primary responses in SARS-CoV-2-naïve vaccinees, as well as secondary responses in the SARS-CoV-2-infected vaccines, and observed a clear set of differences in their clinical symptoms, antibody levels, and cellular and mucosal immune responses.

17 Dec 2021

WHO supports Nigeria in responding to the yellow fever outbreak amidst a global pandemic

In early November 2020, positive samples for yellow fever were reported from five Nigerian states. Nigeria is a high-risk country for yellow fever and is a priority country for the global eliminate yellow fever epidemics (EYE) strategy.

17 Dec 2021

Prediction of waning COVID-19 vaccine efficacy against Omicron variant

Researchers performed a meta-analysis of the results of four previous studies estimating fold-drop in neutralization titer against Omicron to present a combined estimate of the same.

17 Dec 2021

Analysis of the alteration of neutralizing titers with Omicron pseudovirus

A new study measured antibody levels from blood samples of vaccinated individuals and individuals who recovered from COVID-19 illness.

17 Dec 2021

Comparison of RBD/ACE2 receptor complex in wild type SARS-CoV-2 and Omicron variant

New research details the molecular landscape of Omicron’s RBD and how it differs from the original SARS-CoV-2 strain.

17 Dec 2021

Study reveals rising oropharyngeal cancer incidence and mortality trends in all 50 states

Oropharyngeal cancer incidence among men is continuing to rise rapidly in nearly all 50 states and among women living in states in the Midwest and Southeast regions, according to a new study by investigators at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston School of Public Health in JAMA Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery.

16 Dec 2021

25 million people in the UK have had COVID-19 top up jab

More than 25 million people in the UK have had a COVID-19 top up jab, as the vaccination programme is turbocharged to get all eligible adults boosted as soon as possible.

16 Dec 2021

G7 health ministers issue statement on the global threat of Omicron variant

G7 health ministers today held their final meeting of the UK's G7 Presidency, focusing particularly on the very worrying developments on Omicron.

16 Dec 2021

NIH scientists highlight the urgent need for universal coronavirus vaccines

A growing body of scientific evidence, considered together with ecological reality, strongly suggest that novel coronaviruses will continue to infect bats and other animal reservoirs and potentially emerge to pose a pandemic threat to humans.

16 Dec 2021

KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Oh, oh, omicron

This week, the U.S. passed the milestone of 800,000 dead from covid-19, as hospitals are starting to fill following the Thanksgiving holiday and the ominous omicron variant starts to spread rapidly.

16 Dec 2021

New study demonstrates SARS-CoV-2 Omicron antibody escape

A new study examined the neutralization of virus variants using three sets of antibodies: serum from individuals vaccinated or infected with earlier variants of the virus; concentrated human antibodies from plasma donors; and approved monoclonal antibodies.

16 Dec 2021

Moderna booster vaccination overcomes SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant antibody escape

A new study reports the results of a study focused on immune evasion characteristics, specifically the ability to escape neutralization by antibodies to the earlier SARS-CoV-2 variants or to the spike antigen used in COVID-19 vaccines.

16 Dec 2021

ACTG announces the launch of clinical trial to evaluate new CMV vaccine in adults

The AIDS Clinical Trials Group (ACTG), the largest global HIV research network, today announced the launch of A5355, a clinical trial studying a new cytomegalovirus (CMV) vaccine in adults with both HIV and CMV.

16 Dec 2021

Using fungal vaccine to train stem cells and enhance immune response to infections

The research group Immunology of Fungal Infections at the University of Valencia (UV) has investigated a fungal vaccine with which to train stem cells and hematopoietic progenitors (which produce all the cells of the blood and lifelong immune system) to improve the immune response to infections. The work has been published in the journal Frontiers in Immunology.

16 Dec 2021

Therapeutic antibodies deemed ineffective against Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2

A new study found that the Omicron S protein evades antibodies with a 44-fold higher efficiency than the Delta variant's spike, rendering therapeutic antibodies ineffective and likely negatively impacting antibody protection induced by infection or double vaccination.

16 Dec 2021