Connect with us

COVID-19

Pfizer asks EU drug regulator to OK tweaked COVID vaccine

Published

 on

(Last Updated On: August 27, 2022)

Pfizer and BioNTech have asked the European Medicines Agency to authorize their updated coronavirus booster vaccine that includes the most recent omicron subvariants.

In a statement Friday, Pfizer said it is requesting that the EU drug regulator OK its combination COVID-19 vaccine that targets the original coronavirus and BA.4 and BA.5, the latest versions of omicron, which are causing the vast majority of infections globally now. Pfizer and BioNTech are asking that the vaccine be given the green light for people aged 12 and over, AP reproted.

The European Medicines Agency is currently reviewing whether to clear updated versions of vaccines made by Moderna and Pfizer that target the subvariant BA.1, an earlier version of the virus that has since been overtaken by BA.4 and BA.5; that decision is expected next week.

If both of Pfizer’s updated COVID-19 boosters are authorized, the company said its adapted vaccines would be available in Europe “as early as September.”

Last week, the U.K. cleared Moderna’s updated COVID-19 booster targeting the BA.1 version of omicron and said it would be included in the country’s vaccination campaign for people aged 50 and over beginning next month.

Pfizer and rival Moderna both asked U.S. regulators this week to authorize modified versions of their booster vaccine — shots that are half the original recipe and half protection against BA.4 and BA.5.

Health authorities hope that the tweaked boosters might blunt the expected surge of COVID-19 this winter, but it’s still unclear how effective they might be. The gamble is that BA.5, or something similar, still will be circulating this the winter and that immunization with these latest vaccines will still offer significant protection.

COVID-19

China says 200 million treated, pandemic ‘decisively’ beaten

Published

on

(Last Updated On: February 17, 2023)

China says more than 200 million of its citizens have been diagnosed and treated for COVID-19 since it lifted strict containment measures beginning in November.

With 800,000 of the most critically ill patients having recovered, China has “decisively beaten” the pandemic, according to notes from a meeting of the ruling Communist Party’s all-powerful Politburo Standing Committee presided over by President and party leader Xi Jinping, AP reported. 

China enforced some of the world’s most draconian lockdowns, quarantines and travel restrictions and still faces questions about the origins of the virus that was first detected in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in late 2019. Heavy-handed enforcement prompted rare anti-government protests and took a heavy toll on the world’s second-largest economy.

The official Xinhua News Agency quoted Xi as saying that policies to control the outbreak had been “entirely correct.” The abrupt lifting in November and December of the “zero COVID” policy that had sought to eliminate all cases of the virus led to a surge in infections that temporarily overwhelmed hospitals.

Case numbers have since peaked and life has largely returned to normal, although international travel in and out of China has yet to return to pre-pandemic levels.

China is now transitioning to a post-pandemic stage after a fight against the outbreak that was “extraordinary in the extreme,” Xinhua said.

The government will continue to “optimize and adjust prevention and control policies and measures according to the times and situations with a strong historical responsibility and strong strategic determination,” Xinhua said.

Continue Reading

COVID-19

Study suggests people who had COVID-19 risk new-onset diabetes

Published

on

(Last Updated On: February 15, 2023)

A new Cedars-Sinai Medical Center suggests that people who have previously been infected with COVID-19 could stand an increased risk for new-onset diabetes.

The study’s results, conducted by researchers at the Smidt Heart Institute at Cedars-Sinai “have confirmed that people who have had COVID-19 have an increased risk for new-onset diabetes — the most significant contributor to cardiovascular disease.”

“Our results validate early findings revealing a risk of developing Type 2 diabetes after a COVID-19 infection and indicate that this risk has, unfortunately, persisted through the Omicron era,” said Dr. Alan Kwan, the author of the study and a cardiovascular physician at Cedars-Sinai.

“The research study helps us understand — and better prepare for — the post COVID-19 era of cardiovascular risk,” he said.

The study also suggests that the risk of Type 2 diabetes appears to be lower in those who had already been vaccinated against COVID-19 prior to their infection.

Continue Reading

COVID-19

Iran registers over 160 new COVID cases, 2 deaths

Published

on

(Last Updated On: February 12, 2023)

The Iranian health ministry announced on Sunday that more than 160 new cases of COVID-19, and two deaths, had been recorded across the country in the past 24 hours.

“A sum of 161 new patients infected with COVID-19 have been identified in the country based on confirmed diagnosis criteria during the past 24 hours,” the Iranian Health Ministry’s Public Relations Center said on Sunday, adding “82 patients have been hospitalized during the same time span.”

“Unfortunately, two patients have lost their lives in the past 24 hours, increasing the number of the dead to 144,781,” the ministry noted.

FARS news agency reported that according to the ministry, 233 people infected with COVID-19 are in critical condition.

Continue Reading

Trending

Copyright © 2022 Ariana News. All rights reserved!