All major drugmakers including Pfizer, Moderna, Johnson and Johnson, and AstraZeneca had announced plans to quickly investigate and adapt their shots to the highly mutated Omicron variant.
Very early on, Walter Reed's infectious diseases branch decided to focus on making a vaccine that would work against not just the existing strain but all of its potential variants as well, the report said.
The company said lab tests showed the half-dose booster shot increased by 37 times the level of so-called neutralizing antibodies able to fight omicron.
The experiment, which was successfully carried out on Thursday, is probably the first of its kind in the state, district collector Dr Manik Gursal, who coordinated in the trial, said.
Data showed that Paxlovid reduced the risk of hospitalisation and death when treatment started within five days of the start of symptoms, according to EMA.
In view of the threat posed by the Omicron variant of coronavirus, the authorities have increased the pace of vaccination in Delhi over the last few weeks.
Katalin Kariko is a biochemist from Hungary who emigrated with her family to the United States in 1985, hoping to ace academia and settle into a scientific career. She is among the fourth vaccine scientists named in TIME magazine’s 2021 list of Heroes of the Year. Her research work in the RNA-mediated mechanisms was eventually used to make COVID-19 vaccines across the globe.
Speaking about the Omicron variant, Poonawalla said, "On the back of enough data, it is safe to say that booster vaccine doses are a proven strategy to get antibodies up to a great extent".
Her son, on December 9, received a message on his mobile phone, through which his mother was registered for Covid vaccination. The message informed that the woman had been vaccinated the second time.
The findings, published in the journal Emerging Microbes & Infection, also suggest that although a third-dose of vaccines can “significantly boost immunity", the protection from Omicron "may be compromised".
In its latest technical briefing, the agency said that two doses of both the Oxford/AstraZeneca - administered in India as Covishield - and Pfizer/BioNtech vaccines provide "much lower levels" of protection against symptomatic infection compared to the currently dominant Delta variant of COVID-19.
The mortality due to COVID-19 among participants who received the booster during the study period (booster group) was compared with that among participants who did not receive the booster (non-booster group).
Cancer patients on therapy, transplant patients, AIDS patients, among others, may be given a third dose of the vaccine to improve their protection.
South African experts on Thursday expressed concern about the rising number of COVID-19 infections among young children, even as the country recorded a further 16,055 infections and 25 deaths overnight on Friday.
The recommendation came amid demands for a booster dose of covid vaccines by lawmakers during a discussion in the Lok Sabha on the pandemic situation in the country.
According to a study published in the Lancet journal, six different Covid boosters are safe and elicit a strong immune response in people who have previously received a two-dose course of AstraZeneca or Pfizer vaccines.
Two cases of Omicron variant of coronavirus have been detected through INSACOG in Karnataka, Union Health Ministry has said. Both the patients are males and their primary and secondary contacts have been traced and are being tested, the Ministry said. The health experts are suggesting that new variants like Omicron are a reminder that the COVID-19 pandemic is not over yet.
The Union government has so far supplied more than 25 million doses of Made in India vaccines to 41 countries in Africa.
The selection follows “vax” as word of the year from the folks who publish the Oxford English Dictionary. And it comes after Merriam-Webster chose “pandemic” as tops in lookups last year on its online site.
The DCGI office had granted SII permission to manufacture and stock Covovax on May 17. Based on the DCGI's approval, till now, the Pune-based firm has manufactured and stockpiled vaccine doses.
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