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News Articles: covid vaccines

Secretary-General of the Nobel Assembly Thomas Perlmann speaks in front of a picture of Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman, winners of the 2023 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm on Monday.

Nobel Prize goes to scientists who made mRNA COVID vaccines possible

Hungarian-born biochemist Katalin Karikó and American immunologist Drew Weissman found that a chemical change to genetic code called mRNA eliminated a problematic side effect when used in vaccines.

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By:
  • Scott Hensley and
  • Rob Stein
Experts say the new COVID boosters are a much closer match to currently circulating variants than prior vaccines and boosters.

The new COVID boosters are coming: Here's what you need to know

Updated versions of the mRNA vaccines roll out this week. Experts say they offer good protection against current COVID variants. Who should get them, and when's the best time to roll up your sleeve?

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By:
  • Maria Godoy,
  • Rob Stein,
  • and 1 more
Another round of COVID-19 vaccines is on the way. The Food and Drug Administration approved vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna that target an omicron subvariant called XBB.1.5. Vaccination campaigns, like this one in San Rafael, Calif., in 2022, could resume soon.

New COVID vaccines get FDA approval

Vaccines for a fall immunization drive against COVID-19 just got the green light from the Food and Drug Administration. The agency says the vaccines can protect people, as hospitalizations tick up.

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By:
  • Rob Stein
Shana Alesi administers a COVID-19 booster vaccine to Marine Corps veteran Bill Fatz at the Edward Hines Jr. VA Hospital in Hines, Ill., in 2021. A new round of boosters could become available for some people this spring.

The FDA may soon authorize a spring round of COVID-19 boosters for some people

The Food and Drug Administration appears poised to make available the COVID-19 vaccines that target omicron as a second booster for people with weak immune systems and those ages 65 and older.

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By:
  • Rob Stein
An older adult receives a COVID-19 vaccine at a temporary vaccination site on Dec. 7 in Chongqing, China. Concerns about effectiveness and safety have led to uncertainty about the COVID vaccine, notably among older citizens, whose vaccination rate is relatively low.

China's COVID vaccines: Do the jabs do the job?

As case counts surge in China, rumors circulate about the effectiveness and safety of the made-in-China vaccines in use there. Here's what we know about CoronaVac and Sinopharm.

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By:
  • Michaeleen Doucleff
Bivalent COVID-19 vaccines are readied for use at a clinic in Richmond, Va., Nov. 2022. Just 15% of eligible Americans have gotten the most recent booster shot, according to the CDC.

It's not too late to get a COVID booster — especially for older adults

Public health officials want more Americans to get the latest COVID vaccine booster. Only 35% of people over 65 have gotten the shot, though 75% of COVID deaths are among people in this age group.

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By:
  • Selena Simmons-Duffin
Travelers at Shanghai Hongqiao Railway Station in Shanghai, China on Dec. 12. China's public health officials say up to 800 million people could be infected with the coronavirus over the next few months.

COVID spreading faster than ever in China. 800 million could be infected this winter

Scientists predict China will see the largest COVID surge of the pandemic this winter, with hundreds of millions of people infected. But some experts say that it could have been even worse.

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By:
  • Michaeleen Doucleff and
  • A Martínez

Coronavirus (booster) FAQ: Can it cause a positive test? When should you get it?

There is a lot of information about coronavirus vaccines out there, and some of it seems vague or contradictory. We talked to experts to help answer some of the most common and confusing questions.

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By:
  • Max Barnhart
The new COVID boosters rolling out this month represent a shift in strategy, said White House COVID-19 Response Coordinator Dr. Ashish Jha during a press briefing. The goal now will likely be to roll out new boosters annually.

The new COVID booster could be the last you'll need for a year, federal officials say

The COVID-19 vaccine strategy may be shifting toward Americans getting yearly vaccinations, like many do with annual flu shots.

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By:
  • Rob Stein and
  • Jane Greenhalgh
Vials of the newly reformulated COVID-19 vaccine booster are being readied by Pfizer for distribution now that the Food and Drug Administration has authorized the shots for people 12 and older.

FDA authorizes first revamp of COVID vaccines to target omicron

The new shots from Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech target both the original strain of the coronavirus and the omicron BA.4/BA.5 subvariants that most people are catching now.

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By:
  • Scott Hensley and
  • Rob Stein
A single-use syringe awaits to be filled with the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine. Moderna has sued rival drugmakers for patent infringement.

Moderna sues Pfizer over COVID-19 vaccine patents

The vaccine maker alleges that its rivals Pfizer and BioNTech used some patented features of its mRNA technology to develop their COVID vaccines.

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By:
  • Carmel Wroth and
  • Joe Palca
A vial labelled "Novavax COVID-19 Vaccine" is seen in this illustration taken Jan. 16, 2022. Photo by Dado Ruvic/Illustration/REUTERS

Novavax COVID-19 vaccine rollout in Georgia could breach the divide with the unvaccinated

Health care providers hope the Novavax COVID-19 vaccine will appeal to people who haven't recieved any doses of previous vaccine iterations. 

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By:
A kidney dish with syringes containing the Novavax COVID-19 vaccine sits in a refrigerator ready for use in February at a vaccination center in Prisdorf, Germany.

The CDC endorses Novavax, a more traditional COVID vaccine, for adults

Adults who haven't gotten any COVID-19 shots should consider the new option, the agency said Tuesday. The spike protein vaccine is more typical than the mRNA types being broadly used against COVID.

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By:
  • The Associated Press
A child receives the Pfizer BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine at the Fairfax County Government Center in Annandale, Va., in November 2021. A committee of advisers to the Food and Drug Administration recommended Wednesday that the agency expand authorization of COVID-19 vaccines to children as young as 6-months-old.

Advisers to the FDA back COVID vaccines for the youngest children

A committee of experts voted unanimously to recommend that the Food and Drug Administration authorize COVID-19 vaccines from Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech for children as young as 6-months-old.

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By:
  • Scott Hensley
A case of COVID-19 brought 12-year-old Harry Nelson to the emergency room in Syracuse, N.Y., where cases are surging, His mother, photographer Paula Nelson, says he first had mild symptoms — just a headache — but later ran a high fever and began vomiting, which meant he couldn't keep down fever-relief meds. At the ER, he needed saline to rehydrate, Tylenol for his fever and meds to stop vomiting.

2 new omicron variants are spreading in N.Y. and elsewhere. Here's what we know

The variants — BA.2.12 and BA.2.12.1 — have been detected in New York and other states as well as 5 other countries. One has a mutation that seems to give it an edge in evading the immune system.

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By:
  • Michaeleen Doucleff