The first data available for Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine suggests a third booster dose will be effective against omicron, the variant that is rapidly taking over the world.
Moderna said early Monday that in a lab study, blood from 20 people who received the 50-microgram Moderna booster had 37 times the number of neutralizing antibodies as compared to blood from the same number of people who only received two shots. Moderna had reduced the dose of its booster to half the dose of the original two shots to limit side effects such as fever, muscle aches and fatigue.
A group that received a third shot of the higher, 100-microgram dose saw an 83-fold jump in neutralizing antibodies against omicron.
Dr. Eric Topol, founder and director of the Scripps Research Translational Institute, said such a big increase isn’t necessary to provide protection. A study released earlier this month by Pfizer and its partner BioNTech showed that a third dose of their COVID-19 vaccine boosted neutralizing antibodies against omicron more than 25-fold, which should be protective, Topol said, though real-world studies are needed to prove it.
“I think it’s pretty encouraging,” he said. “We’ll take any positive we can get.”
Also in the news:
►The NFL delayed three games, the NBA postponed five, and the NHL stopped cross-border games and shut down a sixth team becaue of COVID-19 outbreaks.
►Canada reinstated a border COVID-19 testing requirement for short trips as the omicron variant spreads globally.
📈Today's numbers: The U.S. has recorded more than 50.8 million confirmed COVID-19 cases and more than 806,000 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University data. Global totals: More than 274.8 million cases and 5.3 million deaths. More than 203.9 million Americans – 61.4% of the population – are fully vaccinated, according to the CDC.
📘What we're reading: A study by Oregon researchers finds that people fully vaccinated against COVID-19 who have breakthrough infections end up with what the authors call "super immunity." They caution the vaccinated should not seek COVID-19 infection, but the "hybrid immunity" offers some solace for those who catch one despite having been vaccinated.
Keep refreshing this page for the latest news. Want more? Sign up for USA TODAY's free Coronavirus Watch newsletter to receive updates directly to your inbox and join our Facebook group.
Parents agree to provide children under 5 years old for vaccine tests
There are no authorized COVID-19 vaccines in the U.S. for children younger than 5 years old. But kids like Dr. Alicia Carrasco’s 1-year-old twins and 3-year-old son Matías are participating in Moderna’s trial and are helping to change that. The twins received their second jab a few weeks ago, and Matías is scheduled to get his next shot in a few weeks. Velocity Clinical Research, a clinical trial site organization, enrolled about 650 children at four locations across the country. A quarter of the children received the placebo and the rest were vaccinated with Moderna’s vaccine. No one knows for certain which they were given, but internal medicine physician is confident the sudden fever she saw in the twins is a sign they were jabbed with the active vaccine.
“They were definitely sleeping a lot more the next day, fussy and had spiked fevers,” she said. “Nothing major, and it went away 36 hours after the shot.” Read more here.
– Adrianna Rodriguez
New infections up 41% from a month ago
The U.S. is moving toward Christmas in dramatically different shape than it was before Thanksgiving. A month ago, case counts had been rising, to about 90,000 per day on average. For much of December cases appeared to hover around 120,000 but have recently leaped above 130,000 per day, Johns Hopkins data shows. Compared to a month ago, the pace of new cases nationally is up 41%.
Overall, the CDC says about three-quarters of counties have high levels of transmission. But where you live is important. The pace of cases is up 393% in Hawaii, more than tripled in Connecticut and New Jersey, and more than doubled in Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts, New York and Rhode Island. But cases appear to have fallen in at least a third of the states – down 72% in Montana, 61% in Wyoming, 58% in Alaska, 46% in Colorado.
– Mike Stucka
New Zealand man dies from myocarditis linked to Pfizer vaccine
A 26-year-old man has died from myocarditis linked to the Pfizer vaccine, health officials in New Zealand said Monday.
Myocarditis, a form of heart inflammation, has been detected in a small number of vaccinated individuals. It is treatable, is not specific to COVID-19 vaccines, and was a common side effect of the smallpox vaccine in the past, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The man died within two weeks of receiving his first dose, and a coroner determined that preliminary information has identified myocarditis as the probable cause of death, New Zealand's COVID-19 Vaccine Independent Safety Monitoring Board said in a statement.
"With the current available information, the board has considered that the myocarditis was probably due to vaccination in this individual," the monitoring board's statement said.
The statement said the benefits of vaccination with the Pfizer vaccine continue to "greatly outweigh" the risk of such rare side effects, adding that the COVID-19 infection can itself be a cause of myocarditis as well as other serious illnesses.
More on myocarditis:
44 people on cruise ship test positive
At least 48 people on board Royal Caribbean's Symphony of the Seas ship that ended a seven-day cruise in Miami on Saturday were positive for COVID-19 during the sailing, the cruise line said. Those 48 people who tested positive represented less than 1% of the 6,074 passengers and crew members on board Symphony of the Seas, which left Miami on Dec. 11 and made stops in St. Maarten, St. Thomas, and Perfect Day at CocoCay (Royal Caribbean's private island), spokesperson Lyan Sierra-Caro told USA TODAY.
Connor O'Dell, 29, said a 66-year-old relative reported her symptoms to Royal Caribbean during the cruise. He said neither a doctor nor nurse gave her an in-depth physical exam or asked her about preexisting conditions.
"We all knew the risks of going on the ship," O'Dell told USA TODAY. "The problem is that we were promised a set of protocols (or) adequate medical staffing and they were never adhered to."
– Morgan Hines
Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Cory Booker test positive for COVID-19
Senators Elizabeth Warren, D-Massachusetts, and Cory Booker, D-New Jersey, and Rep. Jason Crow, D-Colorado, have tested positive for COVID-19 in breakthrough cases with mild symptoms, they announced on Twitter.
"I regularly test for COVID & while I tested negative earlier this week, today I tested positive with a breakthrough case. Thankfully, I am only experiencing mild symptoms & am grateful for the protection provided against serious illness that comes from being vaccinated & boosted," Warren wrote.
Booker tweeted: "I learned today that I tested positive for COVID-19 after first feeling symptoms on Saturday. My symptoms are relatively mild. I’m beyond grateful to have received two doses of vaccine and, more recently, a booster – I’m certain that without them I would be doing much worse."
The senators from Massachusetts and New Jersey have both been vocal proponents of the COVID-19 vaccine in Washington. Warren lost her older brother to the virus in May 2020. The Democrats are just two of several senators who have tested positive for COVID despite being fully vaccinated, including Lindsay Graham, R-SC and John Hickenlooper, D-Colo.
The latest congrespositive tests come amid a rise of COVID-19 cases across the nation and the omicron variant, which Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s leading infectious diseases expert, said has an "extraordinary capability of spreading."
– Celina Tebor, USA TODAY
Contributing: The Associated Press; Karen Weintraub, USA TODAY
