PRO/AH/EDR> CORONAVIRUS DISEASE 2019 UPDATE (19): USA, PHILIPPINES,
HONG KONG, AUSTRALIA, VACCINE COMPOSITION, ACTURUS XBB.1.16, WHO,
GLOBAL UPDATE
A ProMED-mail post
http://www.promedmail.org
ProMED-mail is a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases
http://www.isid.org
In this update:
[1] XBB variants: WHO recommends new COVID booster shots, despite
slower uptake
[2] Arcturus XBB1.16
[A] Variant arcturus now responsible for 14% of new COVID cases in the
US
[B] Philippines detects 7 more arcturus cases
[C] BMJ: what do we know about the arcturus XBB.1.16 subvariant?
[3] Hong Kong: ‘surprise’ uptick in mask sales as COVID-19, flu cases
climb 3 months after mandate scrapped
[4] Winter could mark arrival of 5th COVID wave across Australia
[5] WHO: weekly epidemiological update (18 May 2023)
[6] Global update: Worldometer accessed 17 May 2023 13:40 GMT
[1] XBB variants: WHO recommends new COVID booster shots, despite
slower uptake
Date: Sat 20 May 2023
Source: Yahoo! Finance [edited] https://finance.yahoo.com/news/recommends-covid-booster-shots-target-165121252.html
An advisory group for the World Health Organization said the current
crop of shots should be updated to target the currently dominant XBB
strains for the upcoming winter [2023] season.
The shots currently used in the U.K. and U.S. target the original
omicron strain, of which the XBB.1.5 or XBB.1.16 variants are
spinoffs.
It comes after the agency said in March [2023] that healthy children
and teenagers probably do not need a COVID vaccine and amid falling
uptake of updated shots.
The group suggested no longer including the original COVID-19 strain
in future vaccines. Based on data, the original virus no longer
circulates in humans, and shots targeting the strain produce
“undetectable or very low levels of neutralizing antibodies” against
currently circulating variants.
Reuters reported that COVID-19 vaccine makers like Pfizer/BioNtech,
Moderna, and Novavax are already developing versions of their
respective vaccines targeting XBB.1.5 and other currently circulating
strains.
[https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/who-recommends-new-covid-shots-should-target-only-xbb-variants-2023-05-18/
– Mod.LWW].
In addition, in January 2023, the U.S. Vaccines and Related Biologics
Products Advisory Committee announced its intent to provide the
industry with strain protocol guidance in Q2 of 2023 for the fall 2023
COVID vaccine season.
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