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Articles on Spike protein

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Global Justice campaigners in London stand by fake coffins to highlight global COVID-19 deaths. If pharma companies waived intellectual property rights, it would be easier for low- and middle-income countries to access COVID-19 vaccines. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

We still need a vaccine patent waiver, but not the one on offer at the World Trade Organization meeting

Waiving patent rights on COVID-19 vaccines and drugs is still crucial to ensure access globally, but the waiver on the table at the June World Trade Organization meeting doesn’t do the job.
Researchers can test blood samples taken for other reasons to see if patients have previously had COVID-19. Don Bartletti/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

COVID-19 official counts can miss mild cases – here’s how serosurveys that analyze blood for signs of past infection can help

Your blood can hold a record of past illnesses. That information can reveal how many people have had a certain infection – like 58% of Americans having had COVID-19 by the end of February 2022.
Dozens of coronavirus vaccines are in clinical trials in the U.S. Joao Paulo Burini/Moment via Getty Images

Will new vaccines be better at fighting coronavirus variants? 5 questions answered

Existing coronavirus vaccines are not as effective against newer variants of the virus. Two vaccine experts explain how new vaccines currently in development will likely offer better protection.
Shutterstock/ktsdesign

As New Zealand’s Omicron infections rise rapidly, genome surveillance is shifting gears

Without genome sequencing, we would be blind to new variants of COVID-19. As Omicron surges in New Zealand, the sequencing focus is shifting to learning about what causes severe or long-term disease.
Some vaccines use mRNA to make copies of the triangular red spike proteins to induce immunity. Juan Gaertner/Science Photo Library via Getty Images

How can scientists update coronavirus vaccines for omicron? A microbiologist answers 5 questions about how Moderna and Pfizer could rapidly adjust mRNA vaccines

The new omicron variant of coronavirus has a number of mutations that may require manufacturers to update vaccines. The unique attributes of mRNA vaccines make updating them fast and easy.
People getting vaccinated may still have questions about COVID-19 vaccines, like why it takes two doses — and then two weeks — to take full effect. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz

I work at a COVID-19 vaccine clinic. Here’s what people ask me when they’re getting their shot — and what I tell them

A medical student answers questions he gets asked at a COVID-19 vaccine clinic: Efficacy versus real-world effectiveness, immune response and how the mRNA vaccines compare to vaccines already in wide use.
A COVID-19 patient in an ICU unit in a hospital in Capetown, South Africa, in December 2020. A variant emerged in South Africa that has since spread to other parts of the world. Other new variants could emerge elsewhere. Rodger Bosch/AFP via Getty Images

How worried should you be about coronavirus variants? A virologist explains his concerns

As the US vaccinates millions more people each day, the novel coronavirus works to survive. It does this by mutating. So far, several variants are worrisome. A virologist explains what they are.

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