Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, SARS-CoV-2 genome variation appeared to be low, with an average of 10 base differences in the 30,000 base genome between any two isolates. Late in 2020, as many more people were infected, variants were isolated that had more changes than previously seen. A study of variation at the genome level …
SARS-CoV-2 variants arise during individual infections Read More »
When the B.1.1.7 variant of SARS-CoV-2 was first detected in the UK in December 2020 it was accompanied by unsubstantiated claims of increased transmissibility and virulence. The results of a hospital-based study in London reveals no association of the variant with severe disease in this cohort. In a note published by NERVTAG on 21 January …
Accumulating data suggest that SARS-CoV-2 vaccination of pregnant and lactating people is safe and beneficial for both mother and child.
In our quest to stop the COVID-19 pandemic by vaccination, we have been myopically focussed on inducing antibodies against the spike protein. As variants of SARS-CoV-2 have emerged that reduce the ability of such antibodies to block infection, concern has arisen that we will not be able to halt the disease. Such concerns appear to …
Vaccines work by educating the host’s immune system to recall the identity of a virus years after the initial encounter, a phenomenon called immune memory. Viral vaccines establish immunity and memory without the pathogenic consequences typical of a natural infection. The success of immunization in stimulating long-lived immune memory is among humanity’s greatest scientific and …
On February 27, 2021, the FDA issued an emergency use authorization for a one-dose SARS-CoV-2 vaccine developed by Janssen Pharmaceutica, a Belgium-based division of Johnson & Johnson.
