Vaccine News and Research

Latest Vaccine News and Research

California’s smallest county makes big vaccination gains

In the winter, the roughly three-hour drive from Alpine County's main health clinic in Woodfords to the remote enclave of Bear Valley winds along snowy two-lane roads and over 8,000-foot mountain passes, circumventing the more direct route, which is closed for the season.

8 Feb 2021

SARS-CoV-2 escape mutations identified against monoclonal antibodies and polyclonal immune sera

A recent study describes the experimental selection of SARS-CoV-2 mutants associated with resistance to antibodies, with important implications for vaccine development and therapeutic antibody use.

8 Feb 2021

Schools walk the tightrope between ideal safety and the reality of Covid

California mom Megan Bacigalupi has had enough. She wants her kindergartner and second grader back in their Oakland classrooms.

8 Feb 2021

Research from Israel shows mRNA vaccine is ~50% effective in reducing severe cases

In a report published on the pre-print server medRxiv, researchers at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, the University of Trento, and the Racah Institute of Physics suggest that the shape of the outbreak in patients over 60 years old has changed because of the vaccinations.

8 Feb 2021

Americans plan to continue many of the pandemic precautions even after COVID-19

A new national survey of more than 2,000 Americans by The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center finds most plan to continue many of the pandemic precautions in the name of public health, even when the pandemic is over.

8 Feb 2021

COVID-19 pandemic and nanotechnology

Writing in the International Journal of Nanomedicine, Professor Dongki Yang, from the Department of Physiology, Gachon University, South Korea, has reviewed the available knowledge on the coronaviruses, current approaches to tackle the newly emerged SARS-CoV-2 infection, and the innovative application of nanotechnology in the COVID-19 pandemic.

8 Feb 2021

Commentary on severe allergic reaction to mRNA SARS-CoV-2 vaccines

A commentary by John M. Kelso, Division of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology, Scripps Clinic, published in the latest issue of the journal Vaccines, discusses anaphylactic reactions to these novel mRNA SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 vaccines.

8 Feb 2021

Gut fungi teach the immune system how to respond to their dangerous relatives

Common fungi, often present in the gut, teach the immune system how to respond to their more dangerous relatives, according to new research from scientists at Weill Cornell Medicine. Breakdowns in this process can leave people susceptible to deadly fungal infections.

7 Feb 2021

Molecular surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 spike protein mutations using CovRadar

In a recent bioRxiv preprint research paper, scientists from Germany discuss how they made sequence information more easily accessible for epidemiologists and virologists.

7 Feb 2021

New AI-assisted method could help counter COVID-19 mutations

USC researchers have developed a new method to counter emergent mutations of the coronavirus and hasten vaccine development to stop the pathogen responsible for killing thousands of people and ruining the economy.

6 Feb 2021

Study intends to evaluate the effectiveness of SARS-CoV-2 vaccine in 1200 health professionals

The data on the first 1000 health professionals, vaccinated on December 2020, reveals that 90% developed antibodies in the three weeks following the administration of the first dose.

6 Feb 2021

Novel immunotherapy approach to revert the main hallmarks of cat allergy

Researchers from the Department of Infection and Immunity of the Luxembourg Institute of Health (LIH) brought forward the potential of high doses of a specific adjuvant molecule, namely CpG oligonucleotide, in successfully modulating the immune system's allergic response to the main cat allergen Fel d 1, thereby inducing a tolerance-promoting reaction and reverting the main hallmarks of cat allergy.

5 Feb 2021

California’s rural counties endure a deadly covid winter

Covid-19's fierce winter resurgence in California is notable not only for the explosion in overall cases and deaths in the state's sprawling urban centers.

5 Feb 2021

The state of vaccine supply: ‘Opaque.’ Unpredictable. ‘Hard to pin down.’

Even as the pace of vaccination against covid-19 has steadily accelerated — hitting an average of 1.3 million doses a day in the last days of January — the frustration felt by many of those unable to secure an appointment hasn't waned.

5 Feb 2021

FDA schedules meeting to discuss EUA request for Janssen’s COVID-19 vaccine

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has scheduled a meeting of its Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRBPAC) on Feb. 26, 2021, to discuss the request for emergency use authorization (EUA) for a COVID-19 vaccine from Janssen Biotech Inc.

5 Feb 2021

FDA continues to support the development of medical products to tackle new virus variants

As the public health agency responsible for regulating medical products, we must ensure that health care providers have the most up-to-date diagnostics, treatments and vaccines in their toolbox to fight this pandemic.

5 Feb 2021

Study calls for continuous monitoring of dark web marketplaces in view of vaccines shortage

New research carried out by City data scientist, Dr. Andrea Baronchelli, and colleagues, into the dark web marketplace (DWM) trade in products related to COVID-19, has revealed the need for the continuous monitoring of dark web marketplaces (DWMs), especially in light of the current shortage and availability of coronavirus vaccines.

5 Feb 2021

Study: Black people are less likely to live near hospitals that administer COVID-19 vaccines

Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy and West Health Policy Center found that in many parts of the country, Black people are less likely than white people to live near a pharmacy, clinic, hospital or health center that can administer COVID-19 vaccines.

5 Feb 2021

Natural reinfection with respiratory syncytial virus varies based on antibody response

Researchers at Baylor College of Medicine found that while most individuals responded to respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) natural reinfection with a typical sustained antibody response associated with protection, a few individuals surprisingly responded atypically, not being able to sustain the antibody response, which declined to levels that made the individuals susceptible to RSV reinfection.

5 Feb 2021

Army scientists evaluate three nonhuman primate models of SARS-CoV-2 airborne infection

Army scientists evaluated three nonhuman primate species as potential models of SARS-CoV-2 airborne infection, according to results published online this week in PLOS ONE.

5 Feb 2021