The first data available for Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine suggests a third booster dose will be effective against omicron, the variant that is rapidly taking over the world.
Moderna said early Monday that in a lab study, blood from 20 people who received the 50-microgram Moderna booster had 37 times the number of neutralizing antibodies as compared to blood from the same number of people who only received two shots. Moderna had reduced the dose of its booster to half the dose of the original two shots to limit side effects like fever, muscle aches, and fatigue.
A group that received a third shot of the higher, 100-microgram dose saw an 83-fold jump in neutralizing antibodies against omicron.
Dr. Eric Topol, founder and director of the Scripps Research Translational Institute, said such a big increase isn’t necessary to provide protection. A study released earlier this month by Pfizer and its partner BioNTech showed that a third dose of their COVID-19 vaccine boosted neutralizing antibodies against omicron more than 25-fold, which should be protective, Topol said, though real-world studies are needed to prove it.
“I think it’s pretty encouraging,” he said. “We’ll take any positive we can get.”
Also in the news:
►The NFL delayed three games, the NBA postponed five, and the NHL stopped cross-border games and shut down a sixth team due to COVID-19 outbreaks.
►Canada reinstated a border COVID-19 testing requirement for short trips as the omicron variant spreads across the world.
📈Today’s numbers: The U.S. has recorded more than 50.7 million confirmed COVID-19 cases and more than 806,000 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University data. Global totals: More than 274.6 million cases and 5.3 million deaths. More than 203.9 million Americans – 61.4% of the population – are fully vaccinated, according to the CDC.
📘What we’re reading: A study by Oregon researchers finds that people fully vaccinated against COVID-19 who have breakthrough infections end up with what the authors call “super immunity.” They caution the vaccinated should not seek COVID-19 infection, but the “hybrid immunity” offers some solace for those who catch one despite having been vaccinated.
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New Zealand man dies from myocarditis linked to Pfizer vaccine
A 26-year-old man has died from myocarditis linked to the Pfizer vaccine, health officials in New Zealand said Monday. The man died within 2 weeks of receiving his first dose, and a coroner determined that preliminary information has identified myocarditis as the probable cause of death, New Zealand’s COVID-19 Vaccine Independent Safety Monitoring Board said in a statement. Myocarditis, a form of heart inflammation, has been detected in a small number of vaccinated individuals. It is treatable, is not specific to COVID vaccines, and was a common side effect of the smallpox vaccine in the past, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“With the current available information, the Board has considered that the myocarditis was probably due to vaccination in this individual,” the monitoring board’s statement said.
The statement said the benefits of vaccination with the Pfizer vaccine continue to “greatly outweigh” the risk of such rare side effects, adding that the COVID-19 infection can itself be a cause of myocarditis as well as other serious illnesses.
Senators Elizabeth Warren and Cory Booker have tested positive for COVID-19 in breakthrough cases, they each announced on Twitter Sunday.
“I regularly test for COVID & while I tested negative earlier this week, today I tested positive with a breakthrough case. Thankfully, I am only experiencing mild symptoms & am grateful for the protection provided against serious illness that comes from being vaccinated & boosted,” Warren wrote.
Booker tweeted: “I learned today that I tested positive for COVID-19 after first feeling symptoms on Saturday. My symptoms are relatively mild. I’m beyond grateful to have received two doses of vaccine and, more recently, a booster – I’m certain that without them I would be doing much worse.”
The senators from Massachusetts and New Jersey have both been vocal proponents of the COVID-19 vaccine in Washington. Warren lost her older brother to the virus in May 2020.
The democrats are just two of several senators who have tested positive for COVID despite being fully vaccinated, including Lindsay Graham, R-SC and John Hickenlooper, D-Colo.
Warren’s and Booker’s positive tests come amid a rise of COVID-19 cases across the nation and the omicron variant, which Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s leading infectious diseases expert, said has an “extraordinary capability of spreading.”
— Celina Tebor, USA TODAY
Contributing: The Associated Press; Karen Weintraub, USA TODAY
