Three studies released Friday offered more evidence that COVID-19 vaccines are standing up to the Omicron variant, at least among people who received booster shots.
They are the first large U.S. studies to look at vaccine protection against Omicron, health officials said.
The papers echo previous research — including studies in Germany, South Africa and the U.K. — indicating available vaccines are less effective against Omicron than earlier versions of the coronavirus, but also that booster doses rev up virus-fighting antibodies to increase the chance of avoiding symptomatic infection.
Read more at: 3 U.S. studies suggest COVID-19 boosters improve Omicron protection | CBC News
Saturday, January 22, 2022
Thursday, January 20, 2022
Ireland: Nphet signals end to most restrictions including Covid certs and limits at events- by Cónal Thomas and Donal MacNamee
he National Public Health Emergency Team (Nphet) has recommended the ending of most Covid-19 restrictions in a letter to government this evening.
The team met earlier today and outlined its advice in a letter to Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly. It said the limit on attendance at events, the two-metre social distancing rule and restrictions on hospitality could end but has left it to government to decide on exact dates.
Read more at: Nphet signals end to most restrictions including Covid certs and limits at events | Business Post
The team met earlier today and outlined its advice in a letter to Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly. It said the limit on attendance at events, the two-metre social distancing rule and restrictions on hospitality could end but has left it to government to decide on exact dates.
Read more at: Nphet signals end to most restrictions including Covid certs and limits at events | Business Post
Wednesday, January 19, 2022
WHO: : Travel bans ineffective, WHO says
The World Health Organization on Wednesday said international travel bans "do not provide added value and continue to contribute to the economic and social stress" of countries.
In a statement issued after a WHO meeting, the UN health agency said travel restrictions that were introduced to curb the spread of the omicron variant of the coronavirus demonstrated "the ineffectiveness of such measures over time."
Read more at: Coronavirus digest: Travel bans ineffective, WHO says | News | DW | 19.01.2022
In a statement issued after a WHO meeting, the UN health agency said travel restrictions that were introduced to curb the spread of the omicron variant of the coronavirus demonstrated "the ineffectiveness of such measures over time."
Read more at: Coronavirus digest: Travel bans ineffective, WHO says | News | DW | 19.01.2022
Tuesday, January 18, 2022
Coronavirus: What's happening in Canada and around the world on Tuesday
You can also read more from the Public Health Agency of Canada, which provides a detailed look at every region — including seven-day average test positivity rates — in its daily epidemiological updates.
Read more at: Coronavirus: What's happening in Canada and around the world on Tuesday | CBC News
Read more at: Coronavirus: What's happening in Canada and around the world on Tuesday | CBC News
Sunday, January 16, 2022
USA - Covid: Surgeon general on COVID: “Next few weeks will be tough.”- by Daniel Politi
Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy warned Sunday that COVID-19 infections are set to continue increasing in much of the country and the “next few weeks will be tough.” Speaking as the number of daily COVID-19 cases passed 800,000, Murthy said there was reason to be optimistic cases would decrease in some parts of the country but others are still set to see an increase. “The challenge is that the entire country is not moving at the same pace,” Murthy said on CNN’s State of the Union. “The Omicron wave started later in other parts of the country. We shouldn’t expect a national peak in the coming days.”
Read more at: Surgeon general on COVID: “Next few weeks will be tough.”
Read more at: Surgeon general on COVID: “Next few weeks will be tough.”
Wednesday, January 12, 2022
The Coronavirus Saga: Will omicron delay the end of the pandemic — or speed it up in 2022?
The good news is that it will end. Experts agree on that. We’re not going to totally eradicate Covid-19, but we will see it move out of the pandemic phase and into the endemic phase.
Endemicity means the virus will keep circulating in parts of the global population for years, but its prevalence and impact will come down to relatively manageable levels, so it ends up more like the flu than a world-stopping disease.
For an infectious disease to be classed in the endemic phase, the rate of infections has to more or less stabilize across years, rather than showing big, unexpected spikes as Covid-19 has been doing. “A disease is endemic if the reproductive number is stably at one,” Boston University epidemiologist Eleanor Murray explained. “That means one infected person, on average, infects one other person.”
Read more at Will omicron delay the end of the pandemic — or speed it up in 2022? - Vox
Endemicity means the virus will keep circulating in parts of the global population for years, but its prevalence and impact will come down to relatively manageable levels, so it ends up more like the flu than a world-stopping disease.
For an infectious disease to be classed in the endemic phase, the rate of infections has to more or less stabilize across years, rather than showing big, unexpected spikes as Covid-19 has been doing. “A disease is endemic if the reproductive number is stably at one,” Boston University epidemiologist Eleanor Murray explained. “That means one infected person, on average, infects one other person.”
Read more at Will omicron delay the end of the pandemic — or speed it up in 2022? - Vox
Monday, January 10, 2022
Germany: COVID and diplomacy will challenge the German government in 2022
The most important issue facing Germans as 2022 begins is the same as a year ago: the COVID-19 pandemic. However, there is one key difference: Back then, the upcoming vaccination campaign still gave hope that the end would soon be in sight.
But one year and well over 100 million vaccine doses later, the number of new infections in Germany is substantially higher than it was at the start of 2021.
In order to get more people to get vaccinated, the government could soon implement a universal vaccine mandate. That would mean politicians across the board would be guilty of breaking a promise, with former Christian Democrat Chancellor Angela Merkel, her Social Democrat successor Olaf Scholz and Free Democrat leader Christian Lindner, now finance minister, all previously ruling out such a move.
Read more art: COVID and diplomacy will challenge the German government in 2022 | Germany | News and in-depth reporting from Berlin and beyond | DW | 01.01.2022
But one year and well over 100 million vaccine doses later, the number of new infections in Germany is substantially higher than it was at the start of 2021.
In order to get more people to get vaccinated, the government could soon implement a universal vaccine mandate. That would mean politicians across the board would be guilty of breaking a promise, with former Christian Democrat Chancellor Angela Merkel, her Social Democrat successor Olaf Scholz and Free Democrat leader Christian Lindner, now finance minister, all previously ruling out such a move.
Read more art: COVID and diplomacy will challenge the German government in 2022 | Germany | News and in-depth reporting from Berlin and beyond | DW | 01.01.2022
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