Clarifying COVID-19 (aka Yes cuz all these sites want to hurt people 🙄)

The study authors have requested the paper be retracted because the incorrect data 'vastly inflates the incidence of post-vaccine myocarditis'

With new coronavirus variants continuing to emerge, the development of a so-called universal vaccine offering broad, long-term protection needs to be the focus of an intense effort, one that may share characteristics of the widely hailed Operation Warp Speed, scientists suggest.

The Quebec Health Ministry has confirmed the death of a woman in the province after the AstraZeneca-Oxford COVID-19 vaccine she received in early April led to a rare blood clot in her brain.

Months into a pandemic that has killed nearly 500,000 people worldwide, scientists are still trying to answer crucial questions about the coronavirus.

Interim Com-COV2 trial data evaluated two-dose COVID-19 vaccination regimens with first dose of BNT162b2 (Pfizer-BioNTech) or ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 (Oxford-AstraZeneca) alongside second dose as either homologous vaccination, heterologous NVX-CoV2373 (Novavax) vaccination, or heterologous mRNA-1273 (Moderna) vaccination.1 These data showed that ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 vaccination followed by NVX-CoV2373 vaccination drove optimal T-cell immunogenicity and excellent antibody induction. These heterologous vaccine approach findings are now likely to be extrapolated in developing scheduling strategies for other vaccines.

There’s still a long way to go, but RNA vaccines might help in the fight against malaria.

An extra 19 488 Canadians died during the COVID-19 pandemic than would have been expected normally, according to Statistics Canada. However, additional deaths from COVID-19, delayed medical care and a rise in substance use were likely offset by fewer deaths from influenza and other causes thanks to

People who recover from mild COVID-19 have bone-marrow cells that can churn out antibodies for decades, although viral variants could dampen some of the protection they offer.

New messenger RNA vaccines to fight the coronavirus are based on a technology that could transform medicine. Next up: sickle cell and HIV.

Approving COVID-19 booster shots seemed like a slam dunk, but two influential advisory boards raised a host of complicated questions.

Governments are launching booster programmes over fears about waning immunity levels, but vaccines are still highly effective at what matters most – preventing severe disease.

"The vaccines were transformational," said one doctor. "It was sort of a very visible miracle."

Scientists analyzed data from patients hospitalized with COVID-19 symptoms through the Delta variant's surge.

Background Pre-Delta, vaccination reduced SARS-CoV-2 transmission from individuals infected despite vaccination, potentially via reducing viral loads. While vaccination still lowers the risk of infection, similar viral loads in vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals infected with Delta question how much vaccination prevents transmission. Methods We performed a retrospective observational cohort study of adult contacts of SARS-CoV-2-infected adult index cases using English contact testing data. We used multivariable Poisson regression to investigate associations between transmission and index case and contact vaccination, and how these vary with Alpha and Delta variants (classified using S-gene detection/calendar trends) and time since second vaccination. Results 54,667/146,243(37.4%) PCR-tested contacts of 108,498 index cases were PCR-positive. Two doses of BNT162b2 or ChAdOx1 vaccines in Alpha index cases were independently associated with reduced PCR-positivity in contacts (aRR, adjusted rate ratio vs. unvaccinated=0.32[95%CI 0.21-0.48] and 0.48[0.30-0.78] respectively). The Delta variant attenuated vaccine-associated reductions in transmission: two BNT162b2 doses reduced Delta transmission (aRR=0.50[0.39-0.65]), more than ChAdOx1 (aRR=0.76[0.70-0.82]). Variation in Ct values (indicative of viral load) explained 7-23% of vaccine-associated transmission reductions. Transmission reductions declined over time post-second vaccination, for Delta reaching similar levels to unvaccinated individuals by 12 weeks for ChAdOx1 and attenuating substantially for BNT162b2. Protection in contacts also declined in the 3 months post-second vaccination. Conclusions Vaccination reduces transmission of Delta, but by less than the Alpha variant. The impact of vaccination decreased over time. Factors other than PCR Ct values at diagnosis are important in understanding vaccine-associated transmission reductions. Booster vaccinations may help control transmission together with preventing infections. ### Competing Interest Statement DWE declares lecture fees from Gilead outside the submitted work. No other author has a conflict of interest to declare. ### Funding Statement This study was funded by the UK Government's Department of Health and Social Care. This work was supported by the National Institute for Health Research Health Protection Research Unit (NIHR HPRU) in Healthcare Associated Infections and Antimicrobial Resistance at Oxford University in partnership with Public Health England (PHE) (NIHR200915), and the NIHR Biomedical Research Centre, Oxford. The views expressed in this publication are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the NHS, the National Institute for Health Research, the Department of Health or Public Health England. DWE is a Robertson Foundation Fellow and an NIHR Oxford BRC Senior Fellow. ASW is an NIHR Senior Investigator. ### Author Declarations I confirm all relevant ethical guidelines have been followed, and any necessary IRB and/or ethics committee approvals have been obtained. Yes The details of the IRB/oversight body that provided approval or exemption for the research described are given below: The study was performed as public health surveillance and NHS Test and Trace program quality assurance, under Section 251 of the NHS Act 2006 with approvals from Public Health England (PHE), the Department of Health and Social Care and NHS Test and Trace. PHE's Research Ethics and Governance Group (PHE's Research Ethics Committee) reviewed the study protocol and confirmed compliance with all regulatory requirements. As no regulatory or ethical issues were identified, it was agreed that full ethical review was not needed, and the protocol was approved. I confirm that all necessary patient/participant consent has been obtained and the appropriate institutional forms have been archived, and that any patient/participant/sample identifiers included were not known to anyone (e.g., hospital staff, patients or participants themselves) outside the research group so cannot be used to identify individuals. Yes I understand that all clinical trials and any other prospective interventional studies must be registered with an ICMJE-approved registry, such as ClinicalTrials.gov. I confirm that any such study reported in the manuscript has been registered and the trial registration ID is provided (note: if posting a prospective study registered retrospectively, please provide a statement in the trial ID field explaining why the study was not registered in advance). Yes I have followed all appropriate research reporting guidelines and uploaded the relevant EQUATOR Network research reporting checklist(s) and other pertinent material as supplementary files, if applicable. Yes Applications to use the data in this study can be made to NHS Digital's Data Access Request Service, please see for more details.

A vaccine’s value isn’t just in its peak performance.

Dangerous rumors have been swirling on social media that getting vaccinated against the coronavirus could hamper male and female fertility.

Breakthrough COVID-19 cases in vaccinated people may be less likely to spread infection because virus is shed for a shorter period of time as opposed to infections in unvaccinated people.

Humanities and Social Sciences Communications - Evaluation of science advice during the COVID-19 pandemic in Sweden

Even if you've had COVID-19, the vaccine provides substantial protection against reinfection, a new study reveals.

The technology could help to boost immunity against cancer, influenza and much more.

For the most part, getting a Covid-19 vaccination shouldn’t change any of your typical health, fitness, or wellness routines, or at least not for more than a day or two. Still, it’s reasonable to…

After a weak early response to COVID, Israel leads the world in vaccinations. The benefits are apparent, Eran Segal says. But hurdles remain, including finishing vaccinations and staving off variants.

Pandemic dreams are remarkably common across multiple countries, according to a suite of new studies.

CBC News has dug deep into the data on over 120,000 COVID-19 cases collected by the Public Health Agency of Canada to examine how the illness affects the young, the elderly, men and women in order to better understand what's most likely to land you in hospital — or worse.

Toronto Public Health just released new individual-level COVID-19 data in order to help people examine the pandemic's trends over time, and it's all …

The World Health Organization has walked back a top official’s claim that asymptomatic people rarely spread the coronavirus to others. The WHO’s confused messaging on the topic drew criticism from public health officials. The Harvard Global Health Institute said, “In fact, some evidence suggests that people may be most infectious in the days before they become symptomatic — that is, in the presymptomatic phase when they feel well, have no symptoms, but may be shedding substantial amounts of virus.” Meanwhile, two new papers published in the journal Nature find coronavirus lockdowns saved millions of lives and averted tens of millions of infections worldwide. UC Berkeley researcher Solomon Hsiang co-authored one of the reports. Solomon Hsiang: “Never in human history have so many people around the world come together, coordinated their actions and worked to save so many lives in such a short period of time.”

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