Vaccination Provides Effective Protection Against Increased Risk of Pregnancy Complications due to COVID-19 Omicron Variant

The global network led by the Oxford Maternal and Perinatal Health Institute (OMPHI) at the University of Oxford has published in the journal Lancet the results of the ‘2022 INTERCOVID Study’ conducted in 41 hospitals across 18 countries, including Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago.

Needs and Challenges for COVID-19 Boosters and Other Vaccines in the U.S.

FAU researchers and collaborators provide the most updated guidance to health care providers and urge how widespread vaccination with these boosters can now avoid the specter of future and more lethal variants becoming a reality.

Immune Molecules From a Llama Could Provide Protection Against a Vast Array of SARS-like Viruses Including COVID-19, Researchers Say

Mount Sinai-led researchers have shown that tiny, robust immune particles derived from the blood of a llama could provide strong protection against every COVID-19 variant, including Omicron, and 18 similar viruses.

Newer COVID-19 Subvariants Are Less Vulnerable to Immunity Induced by Vaccination and Previous Infection, Researchers Find

In a letter published in the New England Journal of Medicine, physician-scientists report that the three Omicron subvariants currently dominant in the United States – officially known as subvariants BA.2.12.1, BA.4, and BA.5 – substantially escape neutralizing antibodies induced by both vaccination and previous infection.

New study finds COVID-19 booster increases antibodies by more than 85% in nursing home residents and their caregivers

The study found that Omicron-specific antibodies reached detectable levels in 86% of nursing home residents and 93% of healthcare workers after receiving the booster shot, compared to just 28% of nursing home residents and healthcare workers after the initial two-dose COVID-19 vaccine series.

Broadly neutralizing antibodies could provide immunity against SARS-CoV-2 variants

Two broadly neutralizing antibodies show great promise to provide long-acting immunity against COVID-19 in immunocompromised populations according to a paper published June 15 in the Journal of Experimental Medicine (JEM). The antibodies were effective against all SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern tested and could be used alone or in an antibody cocktail to diminish the risk of infection.

Breakthrough Omicron COVID-19 Variant Cases Don’t Impair Vascular Health Post-infection in Young Otherwise Healthy Adults

New research finds vaccinated young adults who were diagnosed with COVID-19 during the “omicron wave” of late 2021 and early 2022 did not have lasting vascular impairment after active infection. The first-of-its-kind study is published ahead of print in the American Journal of Physiology-Heart and Circulatory Physiology.

Study shows that vaccinated individuals develop more robust and broadly reactive antibody responses against SARS-CoV-2 variants than the unvaccinated after an Omicron infection

A recent study jointly conducted by the LKS Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong (HKUMed) and the Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CU Medicine) shows that vaccinated individuals can develop more robust and broadly reactive antibody responses against SARS-CoV-2 variants than unvaccinated individuals after an Omicron infection.