With inputs from Dr Monica Vasudev

CDC updates its recommendations for booster dose of COVID-19 vaccine

The CDC Director Rochelle P. Walensky has endorsed the CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices’ (ACIP) recommendation for a booster shot of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine in certain populations and also recommended a booster dose for those in high risk occupational and institutional settings. CDC now recommends:

• people 65 years and older and residents in long-term care settings shouldreceive a booster shot of Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine at least 6 months after their Pfizer-BioNTech primary series,
• people aged 50–64 years with underlying medical conditions shouldreceive a booster shot of Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine at least 6 months after their Pfizer-BioNTech primary series,
• people aged 18–49 years with underlying medical conditions mayreceive a booster shot of Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine at least 6 months after their Pfizer-BioNTech primary series, based on their individual benefits and risks, and
• people aged 18-64 years who are at increased risk for COVID-19 exposure and transmission because of occupational or institutional setting mayreceive a booster shot of Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine at least 6 months after their Pfizer-BioNTech primary series, based on their individual benefits and risks.

(Source: CDC, Sept. 24, 2021)

A new COVID variant detected in the US

The SARS-CoV-2 R.1 Lineage Variant, first reported in Japan has now been reported in the US at a nursing home in Kentucky, where 26 residents and 20 workers tested positive for COVID-19. Whole genome sequencing showed the virus to have "mutations aligning with the R.1 lineage". About 90% of the facilitys residents and 52% of the staff had been fully vaccinated with two doses of Covid-19 vaccine, which protected 86.5% residents and 87.1% employees against symptomatic illness. R.1 has not yet been categorised as a variant of concern by the CDC. However, it says that the strain has "several mutations of importance" and "demonstrates evidence of increasing virus transmissibility." (Source: Medscape)

WHO reclassifies the Variants of Interest

The Eta (B.1.525), Iota (B.1.526) and Kappa (B.1.617.1), earlier categorised as VOIs by the WHO have now been downgraded to “Variants Under Monitoring”. While all three variants carry mutations with suspected and/or established phenotypic impacts, the number of reported detections of these variants have decreased over time at the global, regional and country levels. The revised list of current VOIs now includes Lambda and Mu variants, both circulating in Latin America, where the Delta variant has begun to circulate but has not yet become dominant… (Source: WHO COVID-19 Weekly Epidemiological Update, Sept. 21, 2021)

COVID-19 vaccines antibodies can cross placenta

A new study reported in the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology MFM says that women who receive COVID-19 vaccines during pregnancy pass antibodies to their babies, which could protect newborns from the disease. The study included pregnant women who had received at least one dose of an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine (Pfizer/BioNTech or Moderna). All neonates were found to have high titers of spike protein antibodies; no nucleocapsid antibodies were detected suggesting that the spike protein antibodies were produced due to the vaccine and not from a previous Covid infection.

Second J&J vaccine dose offers enhanced protection against moderate to severe COVID-19

A second dose of the J&J vaccine was 94% effective in protecting against moderate to severe COVID-19. However, the confidence interval was wide, with one case in the vaccine arm and 14 in the placebo arm (95% CI 58%-100%). The second dose also was 100% protective against severe or critical cases of COVID-19 at least 14 days after the second shot, though with an even wider confidence interval (95% CI 33%-100%). Data from the ENSEMBLE 2 study showed that the two-dose regime had 75% efficacy against moderate to severe disease (95% CI 55%-87%), with 14 cases in the vaccine arm and 52 in the placebo arm … (Source: Medpage Today)