BA.5

Moderna's new Covid booster triggered a stronger immune response against omicron BA.5 and also appears to work against the emerging BQ.1.1 subvariant, according to the company. Moderna, in clinical trial data published Monday, found that the new booster triggered five times more antibodies against omicron BA.5 than the old vaccines in people with prior Covid infections. The boosters triggered more than six times more antibodies against BA.5 in people without prior infections.The study examined 500 people ages 19 to 89…

The U.S. faces at least seven different versions of omicron as the nation heads into winter when health officials are expecting another wave of Covid-19 infections.Although the omicron BA.5 variant remains dominant in the U.S., it is starting to lose some ground to other versions of the virus, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published on Friday.Omicron BA.5 has splintered into several new but related variants that include BQ.1, BQ.1.1 and BF.7. The U.K. Health Security Agency, in a…

Jakub Porzycki | NurPhoto | Getty ImagesPfizer and its German partner BioNTech on Thursday said their new omicron boosters substantially increased protective antibodies against the dominant omicron BA.5 subvariant for adults in the first direct human data released to the public on the new shots.The study looked at blood samples taken from 40 people ages 18 to 55 and 40 people older than 55 who received the omicron booster. Both age groups saw a substantial increase in antibodies that block the BA.5 subvariant from…

The Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday authorized new Covid-19 vaccines for emergency use for the first time since the original vaccines were approved in December 2020. The new boosters from Pfizer/BioNTech and from Moderna are targeted at the BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants of the omicron variant. They’re also the engine of a new vaccine booster campaign in the United States as health officials brace for another surge in cases. “As we head into fall and begin to spend more time indoors, we strongly encourage anyone…

In this photo illustration, vials and a medical syringe seen in front of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of the United States and Pfizer Pharmaceutical company logos. FDA approves Pfizer/BioNTech the COVID-19 coronavirus vaccine for emergency use in the US, reportedly by media.Pavlo Gonchar | APPfizer and its German partner BioNTech on Monday asked the Food and Drug Administration to authorize Covid booster shots that target the omicron BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants for people ages 12 and older. The U.S. is preparing…

By Suresh V. Kuchipudi, Penn State August 14, 2022The new Omicron BA.5 subvariant has caused a sharp rise in cases and hospitalizations throughout much of the United States.The COVID omicron subvariant known as BA.5 was first detected in South Africa in February 2022 and spread rapidly throughout the world. As of the second week of July 2022, the BA.5 subvariant constituted nearly 80% of COVID-19 variants in the United States.Soon after researchers in South Africa reported the original version of the omicron variant…

Employees at Apple's corporate offices will now have the option of wearing a face mask or not while at work as the tech giant is dropping its mask mandates for corporate employees at "most locations".The move comes even as the US is recording a surge in the highly transmissible BA.5 variant of Covid-19, citing an internal e-mail from the Covid-19 response team, The Verge reported."We are writing to share an update to our current protocols. In light of current circumstances, wearing a face mask will no longer be required…

The BA.5 Covid-19 subvariant is now the most dominant strain in the country; the highly infectious variant has caused an uptick in cases and hospitalizations both in hotspots like New York City and the nation overall, but public health action and messaging is less aggressive than with previous outbreaks. BA.5 typically causes familiar symptoms like fever, headache, muscle aches, cough, and sore throat, but can still cause serious illness, especially in individuals with preexisting conditions. It’s even entered the…

President Joe Biden, who tested positive today for Covid-19 this morning, posts on Twitter "Folks, I'm doing great. Thanks for your concern. Just called Senator Casey, Congressman Cartwright, and Mayor Cognetti (and my Scranton cousins!) to send my regrets for missing our event today."Courtesy: White HousePresident Joe Biden likely has the BA.5 Covid-19 variant but his symptoms "continue to improve," according to the White House."His primary symptoms, though less troublesome, now include sore throat, rhinorrhea, loose…

In a recent edition of his newsletter, the Scripps Research Institute physician and researcher Eric Topol called the BA.5 subvariant of SARS-CoV-2 “the worst version of the virus that we’ve seen.” The Washington Post used the same language in an editorial that soon followed, and earlier this week, the White House announced a strategy for managing BA.5, which stressed the subvariant’s potential to make cases rise in the coming weeks. Why are experts so concerned about this subvariant? For one, hospital admissions are…