As #omicron-specific boosters near, scientists debate how ‘original antigenic sin’ will influence immune responses. In the beginning, when the coronavirus was new, the quest for a #COVID19 vaccine was simple. Everyone started out susceptible to the virus. Shots brought spectacular protection. But the next chapters of life with the virus — and the choice of booster shots for the fall and beyond — will be complicated by the layers of immunity that now ripple through the populat

Europe thought it was done with #COVID19. The UK's daily case rate is still < 1/3 of what it was during the #Omicron peak, but cases are rising as fast as they were falling just 2 weeks earlier. Daily cases are also rising in > 1/2 of European Union. It has been two years since the Covid-19 pandemic became a reality for millions of people in Europe and many of the region's leaders now believe it is time to move on. But as countries shed restrictions, cases and hospitalizatio

If we do not vaccinate the world, the #COVID19 pandemic won't end. More #coronavirus variants will emerge, millions more lives will be lost. As we begin year three of the Covid-19 pandemic, hunkering down again to survive the viral blizzard that #Omicron has brought, it is painfully clear that we are failing to learn from the past. Predictably, rich nations have made boosters and border controls their primary response to the Omicron crisis, while vaccine apartheid, the 800-po

Compared with earlier variants, #Omicron may cause less damage to the lungs, new animal research suggests. A spate of new studies on lab animals and human tissues are providing the first indication of why the #OmicronVariant causes milder disease than previous versions of the #coronavirus. In studies on mice and hamsters, Omicron produced less damaging infections, often limited largely to the upper airway: the nose, throat and windpipe. The variant did much less harm to the l

Evolution of enhanced innate immune evasion by the #SARSCoV2 #coronavirus. "Importance of mutations outside Spike in adaptation of SARS-CoV-2 to humans is underscored by the observation that similar mutations exist in the #Delta & #Omicron N/Orf9b regulatory regions." Abstract Emergence of SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern (VOCs) suggests viral adaptation to enhance human-to-human transmission1,2. Although much effort has focused on characterisation of spike changes in VOCs, mut

In the effort to track the spread of #SARSCoV2 #coronavirus, researchers are monitoring #wastewater in many locations around the state of California. The approach has found the virus in wastewater in Sacramento area, the Central Valley & the Bay Area. In the effort to track the spread of the #Omicron variant of the coronavirus, researchers in California are monitoring the wastewater in many locations around the state. The approach has already uncovered signs of the variant in

The #OmicronVariant of the #coronavirus could have acquired at least one of its mutations by picking up a piece of genetic material from another virus - possibly one that causes the common cold - present in the same infected cells, according to a preprint (not reviewed yet). The #Omicron variant of the virus that causes COVID-19 likely acquired at least one of its mutations by picking up a snippet of genetic material from another virus - possibly one that causes the common co

Anthony Fauci asks everyone not to let their guard down as the #OmicronVariant spreads internationally. He also said that the new #coronavirus variant may already be in the US. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told viewers on Weekend TODAY Saturday not to let their guard down as the omicron variant, a new strain of COVID-19 spreads internationally. He also told co-anchors Kristen Welker and Peter Alexander that it