ReportWire

Tag: VACCIN

  • U.S. FDA proposes shift to annual COVID vaccine shots

    U.S. FDA proposes shift to annual COVID vaccine shots

    [ad_1]

    Jan 23 (Reuters) – The U.S. health regulator on Monday proposed one dose of the latest updated COVID-19 shot annually for healthy adults, similar to the influenza immunization campaign, as it aims to simplify the country’s COVID-vaccine strategy.

    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration also asked its panel of external advisers to consider the usage of two COVID vaccine shots a year for some young children, older adults and persons with compromised immunity.The regulator proposed the need for routine selection of variants for updating the vaccine, similar to the way strains for flu vaccines are changed annually, in briefing documents ahead of a meeting of its panel on Thursday.

    The FDA hopes annual immunization schedules may contribute to less complicated vaccine deployment and fewer vaccine administration errors, leading to improved vaccine coverage rates.The agency’s proposal was on expected lines, following its announcement of its intention for the update last month.

    A nurse fills up syringes with the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccines for residents who are over 50 years old and immunocompromised and are eligible to receive their second booster shots in Waterford, Michigan, U.S., April 8, 2022. REUTERS/Emily Elconin

    The Biden administration has also been planning for a campaign of vaccine boosters every fall season.

    Currently, most people in the United States need to first get two doses of the original COVID vaccine spaced at least three to four weeks apart, depending on the vaccine, followed by a booster dose a few months later.

    Pfizer’s primary vaccine doses for children and people involve three shots, with the third a bivalent shot given about two months later.

    If the panel votes in favor of the proposal, Pfizer Inc (PFE.N) and Moderna Inc’s (MRNA.O) bivalent vaccines, which target both the Omicron and the original variants, would be used for all COVID vaccine doses, and not just as boosters.

    Reporting by Leroy Leo in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber and Shinjini Ganguli

    Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Omicron subvariant XBB.1.5 accounts for 43% of U.S. COVID cases – CDC

    Omicron subvariant XBB.1.5 accounts for 43% of U.S. COVID cases – CDC

    [ad_1]

    Jan 13 (Reuters) – The fast-spreading Omicron subvariant XBB.1.5 is estimated to account for 43% of the COVID-19 cases in the United States for the week ended Jan. 14, data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed on Friday.

    The subvariant accounted for about 30% of cases in the first week of January, higher than the 27.6% the CDC estimated last week.

    XBB.1.5, which is related to Omicron, is currently the most transmissible variant. It is an offshoot of XBB, first detected in October, which is itself made from a combination of two other Omicron subvariants.

    The World Health Organization (WHO) said earlier this week XBB.1.5 may spur more COVID-19 cases based on genetic characteristics and early growth rate estimates.

    While it is unclear if XBB.1.5 can cause its own wave of global infections, experts say the current booster shots continue to protect against severe symptoms, hospitalization and death.

    WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus tweeted last week the subvariant has been on the rise globally and has been identified in over 25 countries.

    The rise in the new variant correlated with an uptick in COVID-19 cases in United States over the last six weeks.

    Increased prevalence of XBB.1.5 cases has eclipsed the previously dominant Omicron subvariant BQ.1.1 and BQ.1, which were offshoots of BA.5. The two strains together accounted for 44.7% of cases in the United States in the week ended Jan. 14, compared with 53.2% a week ago, the CDC said.

    Reporting by Khushi Mandowara and Sriparna Roy in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel and Shounak Dasgupta

    Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • China’s Xi unwilling to accept western vaccines, U.S. official says

    China’s Xi unwilling to accept western vaccines, U.S. official says

    [ad_1]

    WASHINGTON, Dec 3 (Reuters) – Chinese leader Xi Jinping is unwilling to accept Western vaccines despite the challenges China is facing with COVID-19, and while recent protests there are not a threat to Communist Party rule, they could affect his personal standing, U.S. Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines said on Saturday.

    Although China’s daily COVID cases are near all-time highs, some cities are taking steps to loosen testing and quarantine rules after Xi’s zero-COVID policy triggered a sharp economic slowdown and public unrest.

    Haines, speaking at the annual Reagan National Defense Forum in California, said that despite the social and economic impact of the virus, Xi “is unwilling to take a better vaccine from the West, and is instead relying on a vaccine in China that’s just not nearly as effective against Omicron.”

    “Seeing protests and the response to it is countering the narrative that he likes to put forward, which is that China is so much more effective at government,” Haines said.

    “It’s, again, not something we see as being a threat to stability at this moment, or regime change or anything like that,” she said, while adding: “How it develops will be important to Xi’s standing.”

    China’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent on Sunday.

    China has not approved any foreign COVID vaccines, opting for those produced domestically, which some studies have suggested are not as effective as some foreign ones. That means easing virus prevention measures could come with big risks, according to experts.

    China had not asked the United States for vaccines, the White House said earlier in the week.

    One U.S. official told Reuters there was “no expectation at present” that China would approve western vaccines.

    “It seems fairly far-fetched that China would greenlight Western vaccines at this point. It’s a matter of national pride, and they’d have to swallow quite a bit of it if they went this route,” the official said.

    Haines also said North Korea recognized that China was less likely to hold it accountable for what she said was Pyongyang’s “extraordinary” number of weapons tests this year.

    Amid a record year for missile tests, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said last week his country intends to have the world’s most powerful nuclear force.

    Speaking on a later panel, Admiral John Aquilino, the commander of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, said China had no motivation to restrain any country, including North Korea, that was generating problems for the United States.

    “I’d argue quite differently that it’s in their strategy to drive those problems,” Aquilino said of China.

    He said China had considerable leverage to press North Korea over its weapons tests, but that he was not optimistic about Beijing “doing anything helpful to stabilize the region.”

    Reporting by Michael Martina, David Brunnstrom, Idrees Ali, and Eric Beech; Additional reporting by Martin Quin Pollard in Beijing; Editing by Sandra Maler and Lincoln Feast

    Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

    [ad_2]

    Source link