Vaccine News and Research

Latest Vaccine News and Research

New SARS-CoV-2 variants emerge among children in United States, suggests study

As the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic approaches its eighteenth month, new variants of concern (VOCs) of the causative pathogen – severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) – continue to emerge all over the world. A new study explores the emergence of such VOCs among young children, below 12 years of age, and the potential consequences of this phenomenon.

26 May 2021

Tissue-resident memory T cells found in lungs of people who had COVID-19 10 months ago

In recent research by Judith Grau-Expósito et al., scientists identify circulating virus-specific T cell responses during acute SARS-CoV-2 infection with functional, migratory, and apoptotic patterns modulated by viral proteins and associated with clinical outcome.

26 May 2021

Italian HCW study reaffirms Pfizer-BioNTech effectiveness against COVID-19

Real-world data from Pasquale Stefanizzi of Aldo Moro University in Italy and colleagues confirm that the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine effectively prevents COVID-19 infection.

26 May 2021

Zoonotic and vector-borne emerging tropical diseases pose a constant threat

A recent article published in the journal Frontiers in Tropical Diseases assessed the threat of emerging zoonotic and vector-borne tropical diseases.

26 May 2021

Vaccination program reduces HPV-related diseases in gay, bisexual men

A study by Monash University and Alfred Health found a 70 per cent reduction in one type of human papillomavirus (HPV) in gay and bisexual men after the implementation of the school-based HPV vaccination program.

26 May 2021

Previous H3N2 influenza A infection may explain some cases of severe COVID-19

According to research from the University of California, some cases of severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) may be related to the immunological memory of previous H3N2 influenza A infection.

26 May 2021

Moderna's COVID vaccine proves effective against South African variant in primates

Researchers in the United States have demonstrated the efficacy of Moderna’s coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine at protecting against the South African B.1.351 variant of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in non-human primates.

26 May 2021

NFCR announces winners of 2021 Salisbury Award Competition

The National Foundation for Cancer Research (NFCR) announced winners of the 2021 Salisbury Award Competition for Entrepreneurial Translational Research, selected from among eight semi-finalists after pitch presentations in front of a judging committee consisting of prominent cancer research scientists, clinicians, early-stage investors and business leaders.

26 May 2021

Study attempts to standardize humoral immune Correlates of Protection (CoP) in COVID-19

A new study aims to identify antibody-based biomarkers associated with the humoral immune response that could be a standard CoP candidate for COVID-19. Further, standardization of research methods to measure these biomarkers has also been conducted.

25 May 2021

Modeling the risk of SARS-CoV-2 outbreaks upon lifting non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs)

In a paper recently uploaded to the preprint server medRxiv* by Sachak-Patwa et al. (May 22nd, 2021), mathematical models are developed to assess the probability and impact of such localized outbreaks, accounting for changing general immunity levels in the population as vaccines are distributed.

25 May 2021

Human T cells can target more than 1,400 sites on SARS-CoV-2 virus

In a new paper, scientists from La Jolla Institute for Immunology (LJI) bring together research findings from COVID-19 researchers around the world.

25 May 2021

New study may pave way for novel therapeutic strategies for COVID-19

An international and multidisciplinary team led by researchers at the University of Oxford, University of Glasgow, and University of Heidelberg, has uncovered the interactions that SARS-CoV-2 RNA establishes with the host cell, many of which are fundamental for infection.

25 May 2021

Repurposed gout medication (probenecid) shows potent inhibition of SARS-CoV-2 replication

New research by a team of scientists in the USA describes the potential utility of a drug called probenecid, commonly used to treat gout, to treat this devastating viral illness caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) – the causative virus of COVID-19.

25 May 2021

Next-generation SARS-CoV-2 subunit vaccine candidate elicits powerful immunity in preclinical trials

New research – by scientists at the University of Chicago, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and the University of Iowa in the USA – describes a novel COVID-19 vaccine candidate that has achieved impressive immunologic results in mouse studies.

25 May 2021

Corporations encourage employee vaccination but stop short of mandates

Many of the companies with the largest number of employees say they'll do almost anything to encourage their employees to get vaccinated.

25 May 2021

Do vaccinations result in anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in human milk?

The aim of this study investigates the impact of different types of vaccines on the anti-SARS-CoV-2 Immunoglobulin A (IgA) and Immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibody levels found in human milk.

25 May 2021

Heterologous prime-boost immunization with AstraZeneca and Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines safe and well-tolerated, study finds

A team of scientists from Germany has recently evaluated the reactogenicity profile of heterologous ChAdOx1 nCoV-19/BNT162b2 prime-boost vaccination among healthcare workers. The findings reveal that a 12-week interval regimen of heterologous vaccination is well-tolerated among participants. The study is currently available on the medRxiv* preprint server.

25 May 2021

Researchers explore strategies that could help the homeless during pandemics

A team of UBC Okanagan researchers is looking at strategies that could help the homeless during a pandemic.

25 May 2021

UIC leads multi-center collaborative to help communities affected by COVID-19

The University of Illinois Chicago has been selected by the National Institutes of Health as the principal site of a multi-center collaborative in the Chicago area that will bolster research and outreach to help communities disproportionately affected by COVID-19.

25 May 2021

Do mixed COVID-19 vaccines provide immunity?

The initial results of the CombivacS trial found that the antibody levels in individuals increased by 150 times when the Pfizer messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) vaccine was given after a first dose of the AstraZeneca severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) vaccine, with only mild common side effects.

24 May 2021