Earlier this month, the US government recommended that children aged 5 to 11 get the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine. Many parents had been waiting for this announcement since the beginning of the pandemic, but an authorization comes with its own challenges. Among those is helping kids in that age group understand the need for a vaccine. While there’s no...
Tag: <span>COVID vaccine</span>
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New COVID vaccine design is easier to manufacture, doesn’t need cold storage
by Children’s Hospital Boston Shown at far left, the vaccine consists of a portion of the spike protein’s receptor-binding domain (RBD), shown in dark blue, attached to a single domain antibody-fragment that recognizes class II major histocompatibility complex (MHC) proteins, shown as orange ovals. These conjugates home to antigen-presenting cells (APCs), which then process and display...
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New COVID vaccine design is easier to manufacture, doesn’t need cold storage
by Children’s Hospital Boston Shown at far left, the vaccine consists of a portion of the spike protein’s receptor-binding domain (RBD), shown in dark blue, attached to a single domain antibody-fragment that recognizes class II major histocompatibility complex (MHC) proteins, shown as orange ovals. These conjugates home to antigen-presenting cells (APCs), which then process and...
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COVID vaccine makers brace for a variant worse than Delta
Emily Waltz If an emerging strain of SARS-CoV-2 evades the immunity already conferred by vaccines and infections, vaccine makers say they will act quickly to roll out new jabs. Credit: Chandan Khanna/AFP via Getty Pfizer’s chief executive, Albert Bourla, made a bold promise in June. Standing next to US President Joe Biden at a press...
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COVID vaccine boosters: Who will receive them and why are they being given?
by Sarah Pitt, The Conversation Credit: ShotPrime Studio/Shutterstock After consulting its vaccine advisers, the UK government is launching its much-discussed COVID-19 vaccine booster program. From the week beginning September 20 2021, a third dose will be offered to all people who were prioritized in the first wave of the UK’s vaccine rollout. This includes all residents and staff of care...
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J&J says second dose of COVID vaccine boosts protection
Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain Johnson & Johnson said Wednesday a second dose of its COVID-19 vaccine boosted immunity beyond the first dose. In two clinical studies that have not yet been peer-reviewed, the additional shot evoked a nine-fold increase in antibodies to the coronavirus, the company said in a news release. President Joe Biden’s administration has announced plans for...
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COVID vaccine boosters: the most important questions
Ewen Callaway Britain is one of several countries looking to administer booster shots for COVID-19 in the coming months; some have already started. Credit: Henry Nicholls/Reuters/Alamy To boost or not to boost? That is the question facing countries fortunate enough to have vaccinated much of their adult population. In the face of soaring infection numbers...
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COVID vaccines generate antibodies in saliva
By Sally Robertson, B.Sc. Aug 5, 2021 Researchers in the United States and Canada have conducted a study showing that the vaccines developed by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna to protect against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) generate local antibody responses in the salivary gland that are independent of the systemic immune response. The team found that just one...
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Obstetrician groups recommend COVID vaccine during pregnancy
by The Associated Press In this May 7, 2020 file photo, a pregnant woman waits in a food pantry line at St. Mary’s Church in Waltham, Mass., for people in need of groceries due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Two obstetricians’ groups—The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine are now...
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Scientists identify long-sought marker for COVID vaccine success
A cell (red) infected with SARS-CoV-2 particles (green).Credit: NIAID/NIH/SPL Researchers developing the Oxford–AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine have identified biomarkers that can help to predict whether someone will be protected by the jab they receive. The team at the University of Oxford, UK, identified a ‘correlate of protection from the immune responses of trial participants — the...