Respiratory Infections News

As of May 8, just 16% of pregnant women in the United States had received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, according to findings published in MMWR.

Researchers detected SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in blood specimens collected weeks before the first reported cases in several U.S. states — more evidence that the novel coronavirus was spreading earlier than originally thought.

Past research has shown that solid organ transplant recipients do not respond as well to COVID-19 vaccines as others. Researchers from Johns Hopkins found that a booster dose could make them less vulnerable to infection.

Last week, President Joe Biden urged young people in the United States to get vaccinated against COVID-19 amid a rising number of cases among people aged 12 to 20 years in the United Kingdom.

Novavax said its COVID-19 vaccine was 100% protective against moderate and severe disease and 90.4% protective overall during a phase 3 trial that included almost 30,000 adults in Mexico and the United States.

The first hospital system in the country to mandate COVID-19 vaccination for employees said this week that it had suspended nearly 180 personnel without pay for not getting vaccinated.

The FDA has told Johnson & Johnson that more batches of COVID-19 vaccine produced at a plant under scrutiny for its manufacturing practices must be discarded.

Under strict safety measures, no participants in a staged concert were infected with SARS-CoV-2, according to researchers, who said their experiment was the first randomized clinical trial to assess the risk of COVID-19 at mass gatherings.

Moderna announced that it has requested an emergency use authorization from the FDA for its COVID-19 vaccine for use in adolescents aged 12 to 17 years.

Children who had asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic COVID-19 no longer need to be cleared by a doctor before returning to sports or physical activity, the AAP said in updated guidance.