Several sources of real-world data from across the globe indicate the Omicron coronavirus variant produces a less severe form of COVID-19 disease. In South Africa, where Omicron was identified in November 2021, a private health insurance administrator reported in...
COVID-19 saliva tests appear more effective at detecting the Omicron variant, a recently posted pre-print paper says. Researchers in South Africa tested 382 people who were not sick enough to be hospitalized but still had COVID-19 symptoms. They found that in those...
Updated Booster Guidance for 16-and-17-year-olds On December 9, the Food and Drug Administration authorized third booster shots of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine for 16-and-17-year-olds. Hours later CDC Director Walensky signed off on third shots for the age...
Study Findings A small study out of South Africa published online on December 7th offered a first look at how well people immunized with Pfizer and BioNTech’s vaccine might fare against the new Covid variant, Omicron. After testing Omicron against blood samples from...
With the arrival of the Delta and Omicron variants, we are not just yet finished with the COVID-19 pandemic. Sure, the wide distribution of vaccines has greatly helped in our fight to slow the spread of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19 disease. But as...
Omicron COVID-19 variant possibly looks more like the common cold. It looks like Omicron may have caught a cold. Seriously, researchers say the Omicron variant may have acquired at least one of its mutations from another virus, more likely the common cold, or possibly...
So What's the Link Between Vitamin D and Covid? Vitamin D has been studied for nearly a century as an aid in the prevention and treatment of respiratory infections. There is presently a great deal of anxiety regarding the spread of the Delta and Omicron variants of...
What is the Omicron (B.1.1.529) COVID Variant? Last week South African scientists reported sequencing data on a new Covid variant, recently named Omicron by the World Health Organization (WHO). The data demonstrates some 50 mutations compared with the original Wuhan...
What is the Omicron (B.1.1.529) COVID Variant? A new Covid-19 variant, B.1.1.529, has been classified by the WHO as a Variant of Concern and named Omicron. Most of the concern over Omicron comes from its 37 mutations on the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2. The spike...