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Topic subject12/22/2021: Nearly a month - remember...
Topic URLhttp://board.okayplayer.com/okp.php?az=show_topic&forum=4&topic_id=13448755&mesg_id=13450507
13450507, 12/22/2021: Nearly a month - remember...
Posted by handle, Wed Dec-22-21 10:46 AM
Remember reports of deaths TRAIL infection by around 3 weeks. So the data in the next month, starting in the UK will probably tell us the actual severity of disease.


Omicron Has 80% Lower Risk of Hospitalization, New Study Shows
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-12-22/omicron-has-80-lower-risk-of-hospitalization-new-study-shows

South Africans contracting Covid-19 in the current fourth wave of infections are 80% less likely to be hospitalized if they catch the omicron variant, compared with other strains, according to a study released by the National Institute for Communicable Diseases.

Once admitted to the hospital, the risk of severe disease doesn’t differ from other variants, the authors led by scientists Nicole Walter and Cheryl Cohen said.

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Covid Omicron: Biden buys 500m test kits to tackle surge
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-59738678

The key measures are:

500 million at-home rapid tests (antigen/flow) will be bought and delivered free to all Americans who request them from January. Kits can currently cost $7-$15 (£5-£11) over-the-counter and availability can be sketchy in some areas

1,000 military medical personnel will be deployed to hospitals nationwide over the next two months, five times the current amount

The launch of new federal testing sites nationwide, with the first in New York City - which has seen a massive surge in Omicron - by Christmas

Expanded hospital capacity and distribution of critical supplies

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US Army Creates Single Vaccine Against All COVID & SARS Variants, Researchers Say

https://www.defenseone.com/technology/2021/12/us-army-creates-single-vaccine-effective-against-all-covid-sars-variants/360089/

Within weeks, scientists at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research expect to announce that they have developed a vaccine that is effective against COVID-19 and all its variants, even Omicron, as well as from previous SARS-origin viruses that have killed millions of people worldwide.

The achievement is the result of almost two years of work on the virus. The Army lab received its first DNA sequencing of the COVID-19 virus in early 2020. Very early on, Walter Reed’s infectious diseases branch decided to focus on making a vaccine that would work against not just the existing strain but all of its potential variants as well.

Walter Reed’s Spike Ferritin Nanoparticle COVID-19 vaccine, or SpFN, completed animal trials earlier this year with positive results. Phase 1 of human trials, which tested the vaccine against Omicron and the other variants, wrapped up this month, again with positive results that are undergoing final review, Dr. Kayvon Modjarrad, director of Walter Reed’s infectious diseases branch, said in an exclusive interview with Defense One. The new vaccine will still need to undergo phase 2 and phase 3 trials.

Unlike existing vaccines, Walter Reed’s SpFN uses a soccer ball-shaped protein with 24 faces for its vaccine, which allows scientists to attach the spikes of multiple coronavirus strains on different faces of the protein.