Category: Vaccine Headlines
Can mRNA vaccines transform the fight against Ebola?
(Nature) COVID-19 vaccines that rely on mRNA technology are credited with transforming humanity’s fight against the coronavirus pandemic. The vaccines — one made by drug giant Pfizer with German biotech firm BioNTech, another by US pharmaceutical company Moderna — sped through clinical trials in just months and gained approval from major regulatory bodies less than a year after […]
Nov 14, 2022
(Pfizer) today announced the advancement of an mRNA-based combination vaccine candidate for influenza and COVID-19 to a Phase 1 trial with the aim to address two severe respiratory diseases with one vaccine. The first participant has been dosed in a Phase 1 trial evaluating the safety, tolerability, and immunogenicity of a nucleoside-modified RNA (modRNA)-based combination […]
Nov 4, 2022
Pfizer, BioNTech say bivalent COVID-19 booster shot performs better against BA.5 omicron subvariant
(ABC News) American pharmaceutical company Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech announced Friday that a booster dose of their bivalent COVID-19 vaccine performs better against two circulating versions of the omicron variant, compared with a booster shot of their original vaccine.According to a joint press release, updated data from a Phase 2-3 clinical trial shows […]
Nov 4, 2022
Pfizer’s RSV vaccine, given during pregnancy, protects infants from severe illness
(Washington Post) Pfizer announced Tuesday that its maternal RSV vaccine, given during pregnancy, protected infants from developing severe symptoms during the first six months after birth — a critical window of vulnerability. The company plans to apply for approval of the vaccine before year’s end, with the hope that the shot could be the first […]
Nov 1, 2022
Did My Strong COVID Vax Reaction Give Me Better Immunity?
(MedPageToday) Is a strong reaction to the COVID-19 vaccine a sign of a more robust immune response that ultimately brings better protection against infection, hospitalization, and death? Many are asking that question as they roll up their sleeves for yet another booster. Science doesn’t have a definitive answer, as the literature is generally mixed — […]
Nov 1, 2022
China rolls out first inhalable COVID vaccine
(Reuters) In what is believed to be a world first, China’s commercial capital of Shanghai this week introduced a new type of COVID-19 vaccine that is inhaled rather than administered via injection. Chinese regulators approved the vaccine, produced by Chinese pharmaceutical firm CanSino Biologics for use as a booster in September. And now the first […]
Oct 28, 2022
Why isn’t there an RSV vaccine for kids?
(NBC News) A failed clinical trial in the late ’60s pushed the development of an RSV vaccine back decades Cases of RSV continue to surge in the U.S., but a vaccine to protect young children against the respiratory virus remains a long ways off. RSV, or respiratory syncytial virus, is the most common cause of […]
Oct 27, 2022
Vaccine Candidates for RSV Ward Off Severe Illness in Older Adults
(MedPageToday) Prefusion F protein vaccine candidates for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) proved safe in adults 60 and up while demonstrating an ability to thwart lower respiratory tract illness, including severe cases, a pair of large phase III trials showed. A single dose of an RSV prefusion F protein vaccine (RSVPreF3 OA) yielded a vaccine efficacy […]
Oct 27, 2022
It’s a Bad Time to Be a Booster Slacker
(The Atlantic) And just like that, with the passing of Labor Day, fall was upon us. Seemingly overnight, six-packs of pumpkin beer materialized on grocery shelves, hordes of city dwellers descended upon apple orchards—and America rolled out new COVID boosters. The timing wasn’t a coincidence. Since the beginning of the pandemic, cases in North America […]
Oct 27, 2022
Merck to donate Ebola vaccine candidate for research program in Uganda
(Reuters) Merck said on Tuesday it was planning to produce and donate investigational Sudan ebolavirus vaccine to a global non-profit organization’s research program in Uganda, which is facing an outbreak of the disease. The investigational vaccine that will be donated to IAVI is similar to Merck’s Ervebo vaccine, which is approved against the Zaire ebolavirus […]
Oct 25, 2022