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The omicron variant of COVID-19 shows no signs of being less severe than the delta variant, according to a new study in the United Kingdom. Researchers with Imperial College London, who analyzed PCR test-confirmed COVID-19 cases in England between Nov. 29 and Dec. 11, said their endeavor found "no evidence of Omicron having lower severity than Delta," judged by looking at "either the proportion of people testing positive who report symptoms, or by the proportion of cases seeking hospital care after infection.".... ....The Imperial College London team also reported findings that show "the risk of reinfection with the Omicron variant...

The National Institute of Health's outgoing director says he ignored calls to ax Dr. Anthony Fauci and was confronted by Donald Trump for defying a request to endorse hydroxychloroquine as a COVID-19 remedy. In a preview of his CBS New interview, set to air Sunday, retiring NIH boss Dr. Francis Collins said he was pressured by the former president to endorse the malaria drug. 'And I got into a difficult place and got a bit of a talking-to by the president, but I stuck my ground,' he said. He said he would have resigned before acquiescing to such a request.

...The first real-world study in South Africa analysed 78,000 Omicron cases over the past month and estimated the risk of hospitalisation was a fifth lower than with Delta and 29 per cent lower than the original virus. As a crude rate, Omicron is currently leading to a third fewer hospital admissions than Delta did during its entire wave — 38 admissions per 1,000 Omicron cases compared to 101 per 1,000 for Delta.... The findings lend weight to the theory that the ultra-infectious variant is weaker than previous strains, something which doctors on the ground in South Africa have been claiming...

One year ago, the biggest vaccination drive in American history began with a flush of excitement in an otherwise gloomy December. Trucks loaded with freezer-packed vials of a COVID-19 vaccine that had proved wildly successful in clinical trials fanned out across the land, bringing shots that many hoped would spell the end of the crisis. That hasn’t happened. A year later, too many Americans remain unvaccinated and too many are dying. The nation’s COVID-19 death toll stands at around 800,000 as the anniversary of the U.S. vaccine rollout arrives. A year ago it stood at 300,000. An untold number of...

The whereabouts and condition of a state senator from Washington state are unknown weeks after his location was last reported at a Florida hospital where he was being treated for COVID-19. The whereabouts and condition of a state senator from Washington state are unknown weeks after his location was last reported at a Florida hospital where he was being treated for COVID-19. State Sen. Doug Ericksen (R) sent an email to other state lawmakers on Nov. 11 saying he had tested positive for the coronavirus during a trip to El Salvador, according to a Seattle NBC affiliate. In the email,...

(CNN)Using the Johnson & Johnson vaccine as a booster for people initially immunized with the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine produces a strong immune response and may do more to elicit protection against severe disease, researchers reported Sunday. Their small study of 65 volunteers who all initially got two doses of Pfizer/BioNTech's vaccine showed that using the J&J Janssen vaccine as a booster produced a slower but more sustained antibody response against the original strain of the virus, as well as the Delta and Beta variants, they said.... ...after four weeks, antibody levels began to drop off in people who got boosted with...

For nearly 20 months, the roughly 1.3 million Americans living in nursing homes and their families grappled with strict visitation policies that, while designed to keep vulnerable residents safe from the coronavirus, caused distress for separated loved ones and had serious health consequences for many suddenly isolated seniors.... ...Now all that has changed. On Nov. 12, the federal agency removed virtually all such restrictions and advised the country’s nursing homes to allow visitation “for all residents at all times.” The agency noted that 86 percent of U.S. nursing home residents and 74 percent of employees were fully vaccinated, and that...

UK recommends Booster Vaccines every 3 months for all adultsMinimum dose interval for booster jabs to be halved from 6 months to 3 months and all adults to be offered booster Covid vaccine, Health Secretary Sajid Javid confirms https://t.co/q4Clo5uc6k pic.twitter.com/jHwMeteRzU— BBC Politics (@BBCPolitics) November 29, 2021 It’s just one booster… Every 3 months. For the rest of your life.

Dutch military police say they have arrested a married couple who left a hotel where they were in quarantine after testing positive for Covid-19 and were attempting to flee the country. The couple were arrested “in an airplane that was about to depart”, the police force, known as the Marechaussee, said in a statement.. The Amsterdam newspaper Het Parool reported that the couple, a Spanish man and Portuguese woman, were attempting to fly to Spain. Dozens of passengers who tested positive for Covid-19 after arriving on two flights from South Africa on Friday were being kept in quarantine....

A new drug cocktail is four times more effective at keeping Covid patients out of intensive care, initial tests have suggested. While the steroid dexamethasone was the first drug to be licensed for treating the virus, trials indicate that combining it with heart failure medication spironolactone yields better results. ...The treatment works by ‘turning off’ the impact the virus has on the body, rather than targeting the virus itself.

More than two-thirds of Germans are fully vaccinated against COVID-19. Nevertheless, significantly more people are currently dying due to the virus than they did in autumn 2020. Why is this happening?... ...current restrictions do not compare to those from last year. In the strict lockdown of last year, for example, clubs and bars were closed, and there personal meetings were tightly restricted. Indoor events were also largely prohibited... ..This considerable proportion of the population who are not vaccinated (or not fully vaccinated) plays a major role... Among people over 60, more than 3 million people have not yet been vaccinated....

..The dire warning comes as Germany is racing to contain a record rise in coronavirus infections, with the country reporting 49,206 cases on Sunday - the highest number of new coronavirus cases since the beginning of the pandemic. ...In Germany, the fourth wave is overwhelming hospitals, with health chiefs warning that the situation is 'extremely critical' in intensive care units across the country. ... Anger is mounting across Europe over the anti-Covid measures, which has seen thousands of people demonstrate in Austria, Switzerland, Croatia, Italy, Northern Ireland, Austria and North Macedonia on Saturday, ... The frustration is extending to as...

Dr. Steven Templeton, an Associate Professor of Microbiology and Immunology at the Indiana University School of Medicine, attends the inaugural conference of the Brownstone Institute in Hartford, Conn. on Nov. 13, 2021. Lockdowns, school closures, universal masking, vaccine mandates; these responses to COVID-19 are “self-destructive” and more politicized than scientific, according to immunologist Steven Templeton. Templeton once worked for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for four years. Now he’s an associate professor of Microbiology and Immunology at Indiana University. At the inaugural Brownstone Institute conference on Nov. 13, he shared his views with EpochTV’s “American Thought Leaders”...

Report: Navy Shipbuilding Contractor Suspends Vaccine Mandate After Workers Threaten to QuitHuntington Ingalls Industries (HII), the parent company to Newport News Shipbuilding, suspended its federally-enforced coronavirus vaccine mandate after the U.S. Navy “confirmed that our contracts do not include a requirement to implement the mandate,” and some workers threatened to quit, according to the Daily Press and WTKR....Initially, the shipyard announced all 25,000 employees would be required to be fully vaccinated by December 8 as a “condition of continued employment,” according to WAVY. That deadline was extended to January 4, with the blessing of the federal government, but has now...

Direct from the Comirnaty package insert... https://www.fda.gov/media/151707/download 5.2 Myocarditis and Pericarditis Postmarketing data demonstrate increased risks of myocarditis and pericarditis, particularly within 7 days following the second dose. The observed risk is higher among males under 40 years of age than among females and older males. The observed risk is highest in males 12 through 17 years of age. Although some cases required intensive care support, available data from short-term follow-up suggest that most individuals have had resolution of symptoms with conservative management. Information is not yet available about potential longterm sequelae. The CDC has published considerations related to myocarditis...

Red eyes, ringing ears, sensitivity to light, trouble hearing: although a loss of taste and smell have become well-known sensory symptoms of COVID, accumulating research suggests that vision and hearing are also frequent targets of SARS-COV-2, the virus that causes the disease... ...A person who has COVID can shed the virus through their tears, sometimes long after they have recovered from the illness.. ..Hearing and balance changes can also be signs of SARS-CoV-2 infection, says Zahra Jafari, an audiologist and cognitive neuroscience at the University of Lethbridge in Alberta. ... ... two types of inner ear cells have the genes...

Scientists have identified an antibody that can protect people from COVID-19, its variants and other types of coronaviruses.... It is effective at both preventing infection and at helping treat a person that has already contracted Covid. The research team at the University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill (UNC) and Duke University, in Durham, says it believes it has found a key piece that can help combat the current pandemic and future virus outbreaks.

An aide who traveled with President Biden to Europe last week has tested positive for a breakthrough COVID-19 infection, according to multiple reports. The aide tested positive in Scotland via a lateral flow rapid test required for everyone attending the 26th United Nations Climate Change conference (COP26) in Glasglow, Scotland, The Associated Press reported. The aide is asymptomatic and fully vaccinated, the AP reported. They will remain in Scotland to quarantine while they undergo further testing. Out of an abundance of caution, several staff members who were in close contact with the aide returned to the U.S. on a separate...

Beijing: China on Wednesday registered over 100 new COVID-19 infections, including nine in Beijing, which has already forced several curbs restricting its resident's travel to other parts of the country amid the new surge in infections. China's National Health Commission said on Wednesday that 93 locally transmitted COVID-19 cases and 16 new imported cases were reported on Tuesday, the highest in a single day in recent weeks. Of the new local cases, 35 were reported in the province of Heilongjiang bordering Russia, 14 in Hebei, another 14 in Gansu, nine in Beijing, six in Inner Mongolia, four each in Chongqing...

Russia’s current coronavirus restrictions are not enough to successfully beat back its highest numbers of daily cases and deaths since the pandemic began, according to officials. The country’s state coronavirus task force on Wednesday reported 40,443 new confirmed cases and 1,189 COVID deaths, a record, since the day prior, The Associated Press reports. The former marks the fifth time in the past week that Russia has recorded over 40,000 cases. With not even 35% of the population fully vaccinated against COVID-19, Russia’s current virus situation is exacerbated by the government’s reluctance to enact stricter anti-virus measures. The public, similarly, has...