CDC updates BA.2.86 assessment as countries report more sequences Inserm/Flickr cc CIDRAP

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) yesterday updated its initial assessment of the highly mutated BA.2.86 SARS-CoV-2 variant, which said sporadic detections continue to be reported at the global level, including in the United States, where it has been picked up by three different genomic monitoring systems.

...

UK health officials bring forward autumn flu and Covid vaccinations Move in England comes after detection of highly-mutated coronavirus variant that is spreading around the world The Guardian

...

EU regulator backs Pfizer's updated COVID vaccine for XBB.1.5 variant The European Medicines Agency (EMA) said on Wednesday its human medicines committee (CHMP) recommended authorizing Pfizer's updated COVID-19 vaccine targeting the dominant XBB.1.5 variant of Omicron. Reuters Reuters

...

Study: Hospital COVID spread increases when community levels are high Prostock-Studio / iStock CIDRAP

JAMA Network Open yesterday published a US cohort study showing an increase of hospital-onset COVID-19 cases when community-onset infections were high during the first 2 years of the pandemic.

Examining the dynamics of COVID-19's pandemic peak The SARS-CoV-2 virus swept across the globe at the beginning of 2020, and one of the earliest and hardest-hit areas of the United States was New Jersey. Science X Medical Xpress

...

Unvaccinated individuals made up roughly 80 percent of ICU admissions and ventilator cases, each. Approximately 75 percent of the deaths were among unvaccinated patients, as well.

...

Covid-19 has changed and so has our immunity. Here’s how to think about risk from the virus now Experts say it’s less risky to catch Covid-19 than it used to be, but there are still good reasons not to treat it casually. Yahoo Life

...