Withinput from Dr Monica Vasudev

1415: Itis highly likely that children aged below 12 years will geta COVID-19 vaccine by the end of this year or the beginning of 2022, stated DrAnthony Fauci, MD, director of the National Institute of Allergy and InfectiousDiseases. (WebMD)

1416: A single doseof the Pfizer-BioNtech COVID-19 vaccine reduces the number of asymptomaticinfections and could also decrease the risk of transmission significantly,reports a UK study. Results from thousands of COVID-19 tests conducted everyweek as part of hospital screenings of healthcare staff were assessed. Therewas a marked decline in the rate of positive screening tests among asymptomatichealthcare workers following a single dose of the vaccine, stated researchers.

On segregating thetest results from unvaccinated and vaccinated subjects, 0.80% tests fromunvaccinated healthcare workers were found to be positive, compared to 0.37% oftests from staff less than 12 days  aftervaccination (when the vaccines protective effect is not fully established),and 0.20% of tests from staff 12 days or more following vaccination.

The study is yet tobe peer-reviewed, and has been published online as a preprint. (Reuters)

1417: Hitting SARS-CoV-2 in a new spot

Spike protein is a vital target fortherapeutic antibodies against SARS-CoV-2. This is a trimeric protein complexwith each monomer comprising an S1 and an S2 domain, known to mediate bindingto host cells and membrane fusion, respectively. Besides the receptor bindingdomain (RBD), S1 has an N-terminal domain (NTD) as well. The search forneutralizing antibodies has focused on the RBD. Chi et al isolatedantibodies from 10 convalescent patients and identified an antibody thatneutralizes the virus but does not bind the RBD. Cryo–electron microscopydemonstrated the epitope as the NTD. It may be helpful to combine an antibodytargeting the NTD with RBD-targeting antibodies in therapeutic cocktails.(Science)

Dr KK Aggarwal

President CMAAO, HCFI and Past NationalPresident IMA