Category: Vaccine Headlines
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
Got questions about the timing of flu and Covid vaccines? Here’s what experts say
(STAT) Over the past few weeks, cases of flu have begun to creep up across the U.S., with spikes in the southeast and south central part of the country. Flu hospitalizations are also on the rise. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s influenza tracking team, all signs point to an earlier than usual […]
Oct 25, 2022
A booster is your best shot now
(Ground Truths Blog) I know it’s hard to keep track of the new variants, with esoteric designations and without names (Hello WHO, where are you?). But several of these are quite troubling because their growth advantage compared to BA.5 (the wave we’re getting over) is substantial, chiefly related to their ability to work around our […]
Oct 24, 2022
FDA’s vaccines chief sees possibility of more Covid boosters — sooner than he’d like
(STAT News) Peter Marks, who leads the Food and Drug Administration’s vaccines operation, is still losing sleep over Covid. Yes, vaccines for all age groups have been authorized or approved. Yes, an updated vaccine is now available. And, yes, multiple products are in use and hundreds of millions of doses have been given in this […]
Oct 21, 2022
The new COVID booster will protect older Americans this flu season. Here’s how to get shots into arms
Harvard Public Health – The new bivalent booster protects against the original COVID and the dominant Omicron variant. And yet, only 5% of adults eligible for the new COVID booster have received it. Local health departments can change that. Public health leaders have blamed Americans’ lack of urgency on mixed public health messaging about boosters, […]
Oct 18, 2022
Study Shows Benefits of COVID-19 Vaccines and Boosters
NIH Director’s Blog – As colder temperatures settle in and people spend more time gathered indoors, cases of COVID-19 and other respiratory illnesses almost certainly will rise. That’s why, along with scheduling your annual flu shot, it’s now recommended that those age 5 and up should get an updated COVID-19 booster shot [1,2]. Not only […]
Oct 18, 2022
Please Just Get the Dang Updated COVID Booster Shot
GQ – It’s good for you, it’s good for your community, and it’s widely available right now. This time around a pair of new vaccines, the updated or “bivalent” boosters from Pfizer and Moderna, could curb another winter spike. They’re both FDA-approved, and they both are designed to protect against the latest omicron sub-variants. They’re available near […]
Oct 13, 2022