Because COVID-19 is a relatively new virus, researchers still aren’t sure exactly how long vaccines and prior infections provide protection.
New variants of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, arise through mutations when the virus replicates in an infected host’s cells.
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COVID-19 variants are the products of the evolution of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. They arise via mutations, but other forces also have roles to play in the generation and transmission of variants.
Immunologists are studying how the SARS-CoV-2 virus interacts with antibodies in the immune system.
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Some of the omicron variant’s unique properties – such as its ability to spread rapidly while causing milder COVID-19 infections – could usher in a new phase of the pandemic.
Understanding how much protection a vaccine offers is not as simple as it sounds.
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For a number of reasons, as time goes on vaccines become less effective. So how do researchers calculate how well vaccines are working?
The key to rapid antigen testing is to test early in the course of COVID-19 infection, ideally several times 24 hours apart.
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We won’t know whether Omicron evades COVID vaccines for another few weeks. Here’s why.
The omicron variant possesses numerous mutations in the spike protein, the knob-like protrusions (in red) that allow the virus to invade other cells.
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It’s too early to say whether the newly identified omicron variant is going to overtake delta. But particular mutations in the new strain have researchers deeply concerned.
Booster shots are a common necessity for vaccines to keep working. Recent research shows COVID-19 booster shots are recommended for high-risk individuals — and may benefit the rest of us too.
All COVID-19 tests start with a sample, but the scientific process goes very differently after that.
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The two types of COVID-19 tests – antigen and PCR – work in very different ways, which is why one is fast but less accurate and the other is slow and precise.
Many vaccine formulations are tweaked for patients of different ages.
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First CDC signed off on a COVID-19 vaccine for adults, then teens. Now US children ages 5 to 11 are officially eligible for shots. Here’s the science on why each group needs to be considered separately.
For many parents, the long-awaited COVID-19 vaccine authorization for younger kids can’t come soon enough.
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There is immense interest in understanding whether potentially protective SARS-CoV-2 antibodies are provided to the baby via breast milk. This is what we know so far.
Pregnancy poses significant risks for severe illness or death from COVID-19, for both mother and baby.
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In light of mounting research showing the serious risks of contracting COVID-19 during pregnancy, the CDC is re-upping its urgency that pregnant women get their shots.
But the immune cells that vaccination spurs do last a long time.
Public health officials have been waiting for good data before making any decisions about booster shots for people who received Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen COVID-19 vaccine.
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Your body produces antibodies after an infection or vaccine, but these slowly decline over time. New Johnson & Johnson data sheds light on the duration of protection and the need for booster shots.
New discovery could help scientists develop more targeted drugs and vaccines.
People getting vaccinated may still have questions about COVID-19 vaccines, like why it takes two doses — and then two weeks — to take full effect.
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A medical student answers questions he gets asked at a COVID-19 vaccine clinic: Efficacy versus real-world effectiveness, immune response and how the mRNA vaccines compare to vaccines already in wide use.