WHO panel is reviewing whether or not COVID vaccines should be up to date

“However, there has been continuous and substantial evolution of SARS-CoV-2 since the virus emerged, posing challenges to the ongoing public health response, including ensuring that vaccines continue to provide protection,” the authors wrote.

As the virus continues to unfold by neighborhood transmission, additional evolution is feasible and the trajectory and timeline of virus evolution is unsure, they added.

“The current approach to vaccine antigen composition may not be sustainable in the long term, given the length of time for vaccine development, the paucity of surveillance data globally and the regulatory requirements in different countries,” they wrote.

The WHO is now monitoring seven omicron subvariants, in keeping with its weekly epidemiological replace, up from 4 every week in the past. The seven are BF.7, BQ.1, BA.2.75, CH.1.1, XBB, XBB.1.5 and XBF.

“These variants are included due to their observed transmission advantage relative to other circulating variants and additional amino acid changes that are known or suspected to confer fitness advantage,” mentioned the replace.

The company mentioned nearly 5.3 million new COVID circumstances had been reported within the 28-day interval by means of Feb. 19, down 89% from the earlier 28-day interval. Almost 48,000 deaths had been reported in the identical time-frame, down 62% from the earlier 28 days.

As standard, it cautioned that the numbers could also be distorted by a pullback in testing and surveillance and famous that the numbers are increased in prevalance surveys.

Meanwhile, the seven-day common of recent U.S. circumstances of COVID stood at 34,679 on Thursday, in keeping with a New York Times tracker. That’s down 13% from two weeks in the past.

The variety of folks hospitalized for COVID fell 5% to 27,966, whereas the variety of fatalities fell 28% to 330.

Cases are at present rising in 17 states and are flat in Oregon and South Dakota. Georgia leads with a 75% enhance from two weeks in the past. On a per capita foundation, Delaware leads with 18 circumstances per 100,000 residents, the tracker reveals.

Other COVID-19 news you must learn about:

• Moderna’s
MRNA,
-4.42%
inventory took a tumble on Thursday when the vaccine maker posted fourth-quarter earnings that fell wanting estimates, amid a steep decline in gross sales of its COVID vaccine, Spikevax — which is the corporate’s sole product to have received regulatory approval. Investors had been additional dissatisfied by the Cambridge, Mass.-based firm’s steering for about $5 billion in COVID gross sales in 2023, which is nearly $3 billion under the FactSet consensus of $7.9 billion. The steering is backloaded to the latter half of the 12 months, with product gross sales within the first half anticipated to come back to about $2 billion, additionally under the $3.2 billion forecast by FactSet analysts. Investors weighing in on the numbers mentioned it appears the COVID increase is fading for Moderna, hardly a shock because the pandemic shifts to a brand new part and President Joe Biden prepares to finish the dual emergencies that gave the federal government particular powers to handle it.

• Gilead Sciences Inc.
GILD,
-1.33%
mentioned this week that its COVID-19 drug can assist scale back deaths and readmission charges amongst sufferers hospitalized with COVID-19 who acquired the drug, remdesivir, shortly after their hospital admission. That was no matter illness severity and variant, mentioned Gilead, which markets the drug as Veklury and based mostly its findings on three research. The therapy additionally led to fewer deaths amongst immunocompromised sufferers, akin to folks with most cancers or HIV, the corporate mentioned. Gilead earlier this month reported one other drop in Veklury gross sales. 

• Merck & Co.
MRK,
-1.02%
 and privately held Ridgeback Biotherapeutics mentioned a panel advising the European regulator has really useful refusing advertising authorization for his or her collectively developed COVID antiviral. The firms mentioned they might enchantment the choice and request a assessment of the opinion, which was supplied by the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use of the European Medicines Agency. The remedy, known as Lagevrio or molnupiravir, has been authorised or licensed to be used in additional than 25 international locations, together with the U.S., Australia, Japan, the U.Ok. and China. It is generally utilized in adults with gentle to average signs who’re vulnerable to growing extreme illness.

• Nearly 30 million Americans who acquired further authorities assist with grocery payments through the pandemic will quickly see that further help finish — and there’s a giant push to ensure they’re not stunned by the change, the Associated Press reported. Officials in 32 states and different jurisdictions have been utilizing texts, voicemails, snail mail, flyers and social-media posts — all in a number of languages — to let recipients know that their further meals stamps will finish after February’s funds. “One of the scenarios you don’t want to see is the first time they’re aware of it is in the checkout line at the grocery store,” mentioned Ellen Vollinger, an official with the nonprofit Food Research & Action Center.

Here’s what the numbers say:

The international tally of confirmed COVID-19 circumstances topped 674.8 million on Friday, whereas the loss of life toll rose above 6.86 million, in keeping with information aggregated by Johns Hopkins University.

The U.S. leads the world with 103.4 million circumstances and 1,119,508 fatalities.

The CDC’s tracker reveals that 229.9 million folks dwelling within the U.S., equal to 69.3% of the whole inhabitants, are absolutely vaccinated, that means they’ve had their main pictures.

So far, simply 53.4 million Americans, equal to 16.1% of the general inhabitants, have had the up to date COVID booster that targets each the unique virus and the omicron variants.