Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Study: Moderna's Bivalent Booster More Protective Than Previous Shot
CIDRAP: Updated COVID Booster Tied To Strong Omicron Immune Response
The new bivalent (two-strain) Moderna COVID-19 vaccine booster triggered stronger neutralizing antibody responses against the highly transmissible Omicron variant at 28 days than the previously authorized booster, with no safety concerns, according to the interim results of a phase 2/3 open-label, nonrandomized study published late last week in the New England Journal of Medicine. "These findings indicate that bivalent vaccines may be a new tool in the response to emerging variants," the researchers wrote. (Van Beusekom, 9/19)
Houston Chronicle: Side Effects From New COVID Boosters Similar To Original Shots
Clinical studies that evaluated the safety of the boosters made by Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna found that each was associated with many of the same side effects as the original vaccines. They included pain, redness and swelling at the injection site; fatigue; headache; muscle pain; chills; joint pain; and fever. (MacDonald, 9/19)
Also —
Axios: COVID Vaccination Rates Among Youngest U.S. Kids Alarm Experts
Less than 325,000 of America's youngest children are fully vaccinated as hesitancy continues to dog the pandemic response. (Doherty, 9/19)
Stat: Have Researchers Hit A Wall In The Hunt For Severe Covid Drugs?
It seemed interminably slow then, what with all the haze and fear of fresh plague, but in hindsight it was a medical marvel: From January 2020 to February 2021, researchers proved four different effective therapies for patients hospitalized with Covid-19 — a lightning pace for drug research, where progress is often measured in decades. That picture has changed starkly. (Mast, 9/19)
Stat: Francis Collins On Trust In Science And How Covid Communications Failed
Former NIH director and current White House science adviser Francis Collins told a group of journalists late last week about his passion for both the Cancer Moonshot and the new biomedical research agency known as ARPA-H. (Cooney, 9/19)
