Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Boosters, Mismatched Doses: Vaccine Innovations May Up Protections
CNN: Covid Vaccines Can Take On New Coronavirus Variants, Studies Show
A batch of new studies published Wednesday show how well coronavirus vaccines work against worrying new variants -- and one indicates booster doses can help them work even better. At least one of the studies also demonstrated that being fully vaccinated matters. (Fox, 5/5)
NPR: Mismatched Doses Of COVID-19 Vaccines Could Boost Immune Response
Typically, if you get a COVID-19 vaccine that requires two doses, you should get two of the same vaccine. Two Pfizer shots, or two Moderna shots. Not one and then the other. But in the future, that could change, either by necessity or by design. This idea of using two types of vaccines isn't a new concept. It's known as heterologous vaccination, although there's a more colloquial term. "In the U.K. at the moment, we're sort of calling it 'mix and match,' " says Helen Fletcher, a professor of immunology at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. She says shortages of a vaccine or concerns about side effects may induce health officials to adopt a mix-and-match strategy. (Palca, 5/5)
More on the results from Pfizer, Moderna and Novavax —
USA Today: Pfizer Vaccine Highly Effective Against 2 Variants, Studies Say
The Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine is effective at protecting against severe disease caused by two variants rapidly spreading around the U.S., according to two studies published Wednesday. The vaccine protects against severe illness caused by both the variant first identified in the U.K. and the variant first discovered in South Africa, the studies show. One was published in the New England Journal of Medicine and the other in The Lancet. (Aspegren, 5/6)
NBC News: Moderna Says Its Covid Vaccine Booster Works Well Against Variants
Moderna also announced findings that giving a third dose that is identical to the first two also ups immunity against variants, including the P.1 variant first seen in Brazil, though not as significantly as the variant-specific booster. (Edwards, 5/5)
Reuters: Novavax Vaccine Shows 51% Efficacy Against South African Variant, Study Finds
Novavax Inc's (NVAX.O) COVID-19 vaccine had efficacy of 51% against infections caused by the South African variant among people who were HIV negative, and 43% in a group that included people who were HIV positive, according to a new analysis published on Wednesday. The variant, known as B.1.351, carries mutations that threaten the efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines, several studies have shown. Most vaccine makers, including Novavax, are testing versions of their vaccines to protect against emerging variants. (Steenhuysen, 5/5)
Also —
The New York Times: CureVac Covid Vaccine Could Bring Hope To The Unvaccinated World
In early 2020, dozens of scientific teams scrambled to make a vaccine for Covid-19. Some chose tried-and-true techniques, such as making vaccines from killed viruses. But a handful of companies bet on a riskier method, one that had never produced a licensed vaccine: deploying a genetic molecule called RNA. The bet paid off. The first two vaccines to emerge successfully out of clinical trials, made by Pfizer-BioNTech and by Moderna, were both made of RNA. They both turned out to have efficacy rates about as good as a vaccine could get. (Zimmer, 5/5)
Cincinnati Inquirer: What’s Up With Cincinnati Firm Developing Universal Flu Vaccine? Delays
Before the new coronavirus, the world fought the yearly battle with flu. Joseph Hernandez aimed to find an answer with his Norwood startup Blue Water Vaccines and $7 million raised through the local seed capital fund CincyTech. Then the pandemic came along, and, “We’ve been working out of our basements,” Hernandez said. “We’ve moved the needle to the extent that we can.” (Saker, 5/5)
