SARS-Cov-2

At this time, it’s unclear whether immunocompromised individuals will need to be boosted with COVID-19 vaccinations at any interval. We currently lack the robust data needed to inform this decision. What is clear, however, is that the immunocompromised need to be treated differently when it comes to COVID-19 vaccination (as is the case with many vaccinations). It has already been shown that they are clearly less likely to respond to standard vaccination regimens and are overrepresented among those with rare breakthrough hospitalizations. These data led to the recommendation that an additional messenger RNA vaccine dose be given to the immunocompromised, extending the primary vaccine series.

The number of pediatric COVID-19 cases in the United States has continued to rise.

Moderna on Monday said that a booster dose of its messenger RNA COVID-19 vaccine, given at the authorized dose of 50 µg, offered a 37-fold increase in protection against the omicron variant, compared with pre-boost levels.

WHO has issued two emergency use listings for Novavax’s COVID-19 vaccine following the publication of positive results from a phase 3 trial, and the company said it expects to begin submitting data to the FDA by the end of the year.

Icosapent ethyl (Vascepa, Amarin) for treatment of outpatients with COVID-19.

The omicron variant, which has been in the United States since at least mid-November, has now been confirmed in at least 36 states and more than 75 countries, CDC Director Rochelle P. Walensky, MD, MPH, said Wednesday.

A final analysis confirmed that Pfizer’s investigational oral antiviral, Paxlovid, reduced the risk for severe COVID-19 outcomes by almost 90% when given within days of symptom onset, as first reported last month, the company said.

In a recent MMWR report, members of the CDC’s COVID-19 Response Team provided details on the first 43 confirmed infections in the United States caused by the omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2.

A blood test at the time of diagnosis can predict the severity of COVID-19-related illness and a patient’s risk for death, according to a small study published in PLoS One.

The FDA’s authorization on Thursday of booster shots for adolescents aged 16 and 17 years came just 2 days before the 1-year anniversary of the first emergency use authorization of a COVID-19 vaccine in the United States.