Pfizer Booster Tailored To Omicron Variants Could Be Available This Fall

ABC News: Pfizer May Have COVID-19 Booster That Addresses Omicron, Other Variants By Fall 
By this fall, pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and its partner BioNTech could potentially have a COVID-19 booster that specifically addresses the omicron variant as well as its subvariants and other known strains of the virus, CEO Albert Bourla said during a panel Wednesday. "It is a possibility that we have it by then; it's not certainty," Bourla said. "We are collecting data right now, and as far as I know, Moderna, as well as us, we are working on omicron or different enhanced vaccines." (Mitropoulos, 4/14)

CIDRAP: Fourth COVID Vaccine Dose Gives 76% Added Protection Against Death 
Compared with a third vaccine dose, a fourth dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine lowered the risk of infection, symptomatic infection, hospitalization, severe illness, and death 52% to 76%—depending on the measure—amid the Omicron surge among older adults, finds a new Israeli study. Protection against infection waned, however, after 5 weeks, but not protection against severe COVID-19. The findings were published yesterday in the New England Journal of Medicine. (Van Beusekom, 4/14)

In other news on the vaccine rollout —

USA Today: COVID Vaccine: CDC Study Shows Why You Still Need It After Infection
Immunity from a bout of COVID-19 may provide some protection against the virus, but a new study suggests it may not be enough to keep you out of the hospital. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention partnered with Epic Research, which shares data to advance medicine and public health, to determine how effective vaccines and boosters are against hospitalization from reinfection. Researchers looked at electronic health records from over 50,000 patients during both the delta and omicron waves who tested positive for COVID-19 more than three months after a previous infection. (Rodriguez, 4/14)

CT Insider: Fact Check: Lamont Says Connecticut Had ‘Most Effective’ Vaccine Rollout In US
Connecticut certainly saw one of the strongest responses to the nationwide vaccination effort that began in early 2021 — as evidenced by the state’s 78.7 percent vaccination rate — but whether it was the leader in that effort depends on several factors, and who you ask. For one, several states and territories, including Vermont, Maine and Rhode Island, currently have overall vaccination rates that are slightly higher than Connecticut, according to the Mayo Clinic. (Moritz, 4/14)

The Boston Globe: Mass. In A ‘Precarious Position’ Due To Disparities In COVID-19 Vaccination Coverage, Study Finds
As vaccinations were rolled out across the country last year to combat COVID-19, public health experts raised concerns about low uptake in communities of color, based on historic distrust with the health care system. But a new study of vaccination data in Massachusetts has found that educational level is a much stronger predictor than race, and could find no evidence that vaccine hesitancy played a role in people’s decisions. “Although ‘vaccine hesitancy’ dominates media coverage, in fact, language barriers, lack of regular health providers, absence of paid time off to get vaccinated and recover, and lack of trust in the health system all play a role in undermining vaccine coverage,” noted the team of researchers from Boston University’s School of Public Health and the city’s Public Health Commission. (Lazar, 4/14)

And in updates on covid mandates —

Los Angeles Times: Plan Stalls For California COVID-19 School Children Vaccinations
California will not require schoolchildren to be immunized for COVID-19 after Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Thursday that he is pausing a state mandate set to go into effect before the upcoming academic year while an influential Democratic lawmaker said he will drop his bill pushing even stricter inoculation rules. Newsom made headlines in October when he announced California would be the first state to mandate the vaccine in schools once shots were fully approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for children ages 12 and older, with the requirement going into effect by July 1. On Thursday, the California Department of Public Health announced that the timeline will be pushed back to at least July 1, 2023, since the FDA has not yet fully approved the vaccine for children and the state will need time afterward to initiate its rule-making process. (Gutierrez and Gomez, 4/14)

San Francisco Chronicle: California Lawmaker Drops Bill To Eliminate COVID Vaccine Personal Belief Exemption For Students
A California state senator has dropped a bill that would have required all students to get vaccinated against COVID-19 to attend school by eliminating the state’s existing personal belief exemption. The bill is the second major piece of vaccine legislation to die at the State Capitol in the past two weeks. Legislators earlier shelved a separate bill that would have required California businesses to vaccinate employees against the virus. (Gardiner, 4/14)

Bloomberg: As Companies End Vaccine Mandates, Workers Are Becoming Enraged
It’s not just JPMorgan Chase & Co. that’s hiring unvaccinated workers again. Nearly a third of employers who previously required Covid shots have dropped or plan to drop the requirement, according to a forthcoming survey. Yet as virus rates appear to ebb and companies loosen rules, often in an effort to attract new hires in a tight labor market, they could be alienating employees who dutifully got their shots. Covid-cautious workers and customers as well may take umbrage at the idea of sharing space with the unvaccinated, complicating the return-to-office push. (Court, 4/14)