COVID19

By Meryl Kornfield, Adela Suliman, Christine Armario, María Luisa Paúl and Lindsey Bever Omicron has sparked alarm among epidemiologists worried that the new variant’s mutations could make it more transmissible. Scientists are racing to learn more as new cases are confirmed. A new variant of the coronavirus, which causes covid-19, is raising concern around the globe. Health authorities say the new variant, known by the Greek letter omicron, was first identified in southern Africa. Since then cases have since been confirmed in 20 countries as of Tuesday morning — though none has been detected in the United States. In an address from the White House on Monday, President Biden said the variant is a “cause for concern, not a cause for panic.” He urged Americans to get the coron...

A couple walk on the streets of Istanbul, Turkey.Credit: Ibrahim Oner/SOPA Images/Shutterstock By: Smriti Mallapaty An international team of researchers want to find people who are genetically resistant to SARS-CoV-2, in the hope of developing new drugs and treatments. Imagine being born naturally resistant to SARS-CoV-2, and never having to worry about contracting COVID-19 or spreading the virus. If you have this superpower, researchers want to meet you, to enrol you in their study. As described in a paper in Nature Immunology this month, an international team of scientists has launched a global hunt for people who are genetically resistant to infection with the pandemic virus. The team hopes that identifying the genes protecting these individuals could lead to the development...

The World Health Organization and partners[i] have issued an urgent call for concrete action to better protect health and care workers worldwide from COVID-19 and other health issues.  The organizations are concerned that large numbers of health and care workers have died from COVID-19, but also that an increasing proportion of the workforce are suffering from burnout, stress, anxiety and fatigue. In a Joint Statement issued this week, WHO and partners are calling on all Member State governments and stakeholders to strengthen the monitoring and reporting of COVID-19 infections, ill-health and deaths among health and care workers. They should also include disaggregation by age, gender and occupation as a standard procedure, to enable decision makers and scientists ...

Sweden and Denmark said on Wednesday they are pausing the use of Moderna's (MRNA.O) COVID-19 vaccine for younger age groups after reports of possible rare cardiovascular side effects. The Swedish health agency said it would pause using the shot for people born in 1991 and later as data pointed to an increase of myocarditis and pericarditis among youths and young adults that had been vaccinated. Those conditions involve an inflammation of the heart or its lining. "The connection is especially clear when it comes to Moderna's vaccine Spikevax, especially after the second dose," the health agency said, adding the risk of being affected was very small. Shares of Moderna fell 4.9%, or $16.08, to $316.11 in afternoon trading. A Moderna spokesperson said in an email the company was aw...

A coronavirus variant known as “mu” or “B.1.621” was designated by the World Health Organization as a “variant of interest” earlier this week and will be monitored by the global health body as cases continue to emerge across parts of the world. It is the fifth variant of interest currently being monitored by the WHO. Where was it first detected and where is it now? The variant was first detected in Colombia in January 2021, where cases continue to rise. It has since been identified in more than 39 countries, according to the WHO, among them the United States, South Korea, Japan, Ecuador, Canada and parts of Europe. Will my coronavirus vaccine work against mu? It’s unclear how much protection the vaccines offer against this variant. “The Mu variant has a constella...

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the need for innovative health technologies that can help countries improve health outcomes by providing shortcuts to solutions despite lack of infrastructure and resources. However, many of the new technologies that have come to market are unaffordable or unsuitable for low- and middle-income countries. To ensure that all countries benefit from health innovation, WHO has compiled a compendium of 24 new technologies that can be used in low-resource settings. “Innovative technologies are accelerating access to healthcare everywhere, but we must ensure that they are readily available in all health facilities, fairly priced and quality-assured,” said Dr Mariângela Simão, WHO Assistant Director General for Access to Health Products. “WHO will continu...

The U.S. gave full approval to Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine Monday, a milestone that could lift public confidence in the shots and spur more companies, universities and local governments to make vaccinations mandatory. The Pentagon immediately announced it will press ahead with plans to require members of the military to get the vaccine. The formula made by Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech now carries the strongest endorsement from the Food and Drug Administration, which has never before had so much evidence to judge a shot’s safety. More than 200 million Pfizer doses have been administered in the U.S. — and hundreds of millions more worldwide — since December. But up to now, they were dispensed in this country under what is known as emergency use authorization from the FDA. ...

As India battles a deadly second wave, the UK is seeing COVID-19 cases rise despite vaccinations. Germany is also wary about another wave spurred by the delta variant.  What exactly is the delta variant? The earliest documented COVID-19 case caused by the delta variant (B.1.617.2) was first found in the Indian state of Maharashtra back in October 2020, and has since then spread widely throughout India and across the world. The World Health Organization (WHO) labelled it a "variant of concern" (VOC) on May 11. So far, the WHO has identified four VOC: alpha (B.1.1.7), beta (B.1.351), gamma (P.1) and delta. The delta variant has multiple mutations. Scientists don't know the exact function of these mutations at this point in time but they are asso...