From the beginning, the pandemic has been a foot race between the virus and vaccines, with the virus usually winning—at least in its ability to spin off variants more nimbly than scientists can develop vaccines against them. Never has this been truer than with the Omicron variant, which spreads so quickly and effectively that researchers have long cautioned that a new vaccine entirely might be necessary to combat it. Now, as my colleague Alice Park reports, that vaccine may be comung to fruition.
Yesterday, Moderna announced preliminary results of a study showing the success of a new booster shot that targets both the original strain of SARS-CoV-2 and the Omicron variant. According to the company’s findings, people boosted with the new bivalent vaccine developed eight times the level of virus-neutralizing antibodies than those boosted with the original version of the company’s jab.
“We believe the data unequivocally show that the bivalent vaccine is significantly superior in producing neutralizing protection,” Moderna president Dr. Stephen Hoge said during a conference call announcing the results.
The new findings do not, scientists stress, mean that existing vaccines are obsolete. The original two-dose vaccines plus boosters continue to protect people against severe disease, hospitalization, and death, even as new variants emerge. But those shots produce antibodies against Omicron at lower levels than they do against other strains of the virus. The new bivalent shot remedies that.
Over the next few weeks, Moderna plans to submit its results to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), seeking authorization to use the new shot as a booster dose that could be made available to the public as early as the fall. That is a key epidemiological target, because fall is when influenza, SARS-CoV-2, and other coronaviruses circulate widely, especially as people spend more time in close quarters indoors.
But it's uncertain whether the new bivalent vaccine would have the staying power to help get the public through the entire cold and flu season. Moderna’s new study has so far tracked people only to the one-month point after the administration of the shot; the company does plan, however, to continue following them to determine how long the antibody levels remain high.
“The real goal,” Hoge said, “is to get to six or nine months of protection, which gets you through the respiratory season.”
There is still more testing of the shot to be done, Hoge admits. The new formulation has not yet been tried out in children, but Moderna plans to begin those studies soon, especially given the safety and efficacy the vaccine has shown in adults.
More than 533.6 million people around the world had been diagnosed with COVID-19 as of 10 a.m. E.T. today, and MORE THAN 6.3 million people have died. On June 8, there were 710,021 new cases and 2,587 new deaths confirmed globally.
Here's how the world as a whole is currently trending, in terms of cases:
And in terms of deaths:
Here's where daily cases have risen or fallen over the last 14 days, shown in confirmed cases per 100,000 residents:
And here's every country that has reported over 10 million cases:
The U.S. had recorded more than 85.2 million coronavirus cases as of 10 a.m. E.T. today. More than 1 million people have died. On June 8, 210,091 new cases were reported and 1,194 new deaths were confirmed in the U.S.
Here's how the country as a whole is currently trending in terms of cases:
And in terms of deaths:
Here's where daily cases have risen or fallen over the last 14 days, shown in confirmed cases per 100,000 residents:
All numbers unless otherwise specified are from the Johns Hopkins University Center for Systems Science and Engineering, and are accurate as of June 9, 12 a.m. E.T. To see larger, interactive versions of these maps and charts, click here.
WHAT ELSE YOU SHOULD KNOW
In anticipation of the U.S. government’s possible approval next week of Pfizer and Moderna vaccines for children age 5 and younger, millions of the shots have already been ordered by pharmacies, reports the Associated Press. The FDA is expected to meet next Tuesday and Wednesday to consider the two companies’ request to make the vaccines available to that age cohort. In anticipation, pharmacies have begun stocking up, with more than 1.45 million doses of the Pfizer shot and 850,000 of Moderna requested. Those first orders could be followed by many more, as there are more than 20 million children 5 and under in the U.S.
AstraZeneca’s new COVID-19 antibody drug has been found to cut the risk of serious disease if administered shortly after symptoms develop, reports the Wall Street Journal. In a study involving 800 people, volunteers who received the drug, Evusheld, within seven days of showing signs of infection were 50% less likely to develop severe disease than those who received a placebo. AstraZeneca is asking regulators in the U.S. and other countries to approve the drug as a COVID-19 treatment. One caveat: the study was conducted before the rise of the Omicron variant, though the company reports that the drug has proven effective against that strain in laboratory studies.
The Chinese government is putting seven districts in Shanghai back under temporary lockdown as six cases of COVID-19 were detected there today, up from zero yesterday, reports Bloomberg. Mass testing will be conducted in the districts, and residents face the risk of being confined to their homes for at least two weeks if more infections are discovered. Nationwide, China reported only 164 infections yesterday, but under its zero-COVID policy, areas in which even so few cases are discovered face quarantine.
The airline industry is pressing the White House to waive rules requiring vaccinated international travelers heading to the U.S. to undergo COVID-19 testing before departure, reports The Hill. The airlines complain that the rule, which has been in place since January 2021, is preventing incoming international travel from rebounding as robustly as domestic travel has since vaccines became available and masking rules on planes were lifted. Industry advocates cite a May poll by Morning Consult showing that 46% of potential international travelers said they would be more likely to visit the U.S. if the requirement were dropped.
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Today's newsletter was written by Jeffrey Kluger and edited by Angela Haupt.
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