Researchers still don’t know how well BA.2.86 will evade immunity or whether it will cause more severe disease than its predecessors.
Researchers found a surprising twist in a study of Omicron infection in older adults. The new information highlights the importance of COVID-19 vaccine booster shots.
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We still have much to learn about many aspects of COVID-19 — including its lingering health effects and the mechanics of its endless mutations — but we do know one thing: we can’t let our guard down.
More than 70 per cent of the world’s population has received at least one COVID-19 vaccination.
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New analysis answers questions about the ongoing effectiveness of COVID vaccines: How well they protect against infection, hospitalization and death months after initial doses or after a booster shot.
SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, has evolved over time into multiple variants and sublineages.
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With the emergency phase of the COVID-19 pandemic in the rearview mirror, at least for now, we look back on a handful of stories that provided sharp insights at key moments in the pandemic.
The FDA is proposing an annual shot against COVID-19, signaling that a new approach is needed.
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The new bivalent boosters against COVID-19 have failed to halt omicron infections. However, new technologies are being developed that pave a way forward.
XBB.1.5 is rapidly spreading across the globe and will likely become the next dominant COVID-19 subvariant.
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The XBB.1.5 subvariant — nicknamed ‘Kraken’ — is arguably the most genetically rich and most transmissible SARS-CoV-2 Omicron subvariant yet.
Cathay Pacific crew members who worked on a flight from Hong Kong arrive at Vancouver International Airport. Canada now requires air travellers from China, Hong Kong and Macau to have a recent negative COVID-19 test result.
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Rapid tests can be an incredibly useful tool for early detection of COVID-19. Unfortunately, they sometimes leave people with more questions than answers.
A 10-year-old Toronto boy receives his COVID-19 vaccine shot from a Toronto Public Health nurse at a children’s vaccine clinic at Scotiabank Arena in December 2021.
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Adding COVID-19 to a list of ‘designated diseases’ will not make vaccination mandatory for school entry. But it may help increase COVID-19 vaccine uptake among children.
As the virus that causes COVID evolves, keeping up with it remains a challenge for variant-specific vaccines. The booster you can get now is the best one to get.
Sotrovimab and casirivimab-imdevimab are no longer recommended for patients with COVID.
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This guidance replaces previous conditional recommendations for the use of these drugs and is based on emerging evidence that they’re not likely to work against omicron.
BA.4.6 seems to be even better at evading our immune response than BA.5.
As of August 2022, COVID-19 vaccination rates in Black and Hispanic people exceeded those of white Americans nationally, but only for the initial shots.
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Early on, public health messaging focused on the need for vaccines to combat COVID-19. But far less attention has been given to the role of boosters in preventing deaths and reducing inequities.
Dean Faculty of Health Sciences and Professor of Vaccinology at University of the Witwatersrand; and Director of the SAMRC Vaccines and Infectious Diseases Analytics Research Unit, University of the Witwatersrand