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Pfizer and BioNTech said Friday that the immune responses against Omicron BA.4/BA.5 subvariants were “substantially higher” in people who got its new bivalent booster compared with people who received the companies’ original Covid-19 vaccine. (Christensen, 11/4)

A month after vaccination, the new booster triggered a fourfold increase in omicron-blocking antibody levels against the BA.4/BA.5 version of omicron compared with the old booster in older adults. That is an advantage, but scientists have varying opinions on whether it will make a difference in whether people are likely to fall ill. (Johnson, 11/4)

The companies said that one month after getting the new booster, clinical trial participants over 55 had antibody levels that were 3.8 times as high as those who received the original booster. The number of participants in the study was small, with 36 people receiving the new booster and 40 receiving the old one. The control group included only older adults, and the findings so far are limited to one month after the shot. Results from a similar clinical trial by Moderna are expected soon. (LaFraniere, 11/4)

Fauci, in a radio interview Thursday, said the pandemic has clearly eased since last winter, but deaths, which average more than 2,600 per week, remain far too high. At the same time, the new omicron variants are knocking out key tools used to protect the most vulnerable. (Kimball, 11/3)

“Clearly, the unvaccinated are a threat to themselves,” said Dr. Jeffrey Shaman, an infectious disease specialist at Columbia University. As recently as August, their risk of dying of COVID-19 was six times higher than for people who were fully vaccinated and eight times higher than for people who were vaccinated and boosted, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Healy, 11/3)

The Omicron SARS-CoV-2 variant was likely transmitted through the floors and walls of a quarantine hotel in Taiwan in December 2021, adding to a large body of evidence that aerosol transmission plays a significant role in outbreaks and clusters, according to a report yesterday in Emerging Infectious Diseases. (11/3)

The state health department launched a new telehealth program Wednesday with the idea of providing Wisconsinites free access to prescription COVID-19 antiviral pills. (Shastri, 11/3)

The state is launching a telehealth program to expand access to Paxlovid for New Hampshire residents. The antiviral treatment reduces severe illness among people at high risk from COVID-19. (Cuno-Booth, 11/3)

Pfizer and BioNTech have launched a clinical trial on a vaccine targeting both COVID-19 and influenza, the companies announced Thursday. The phase 1 trial is being done in the United States with 180 participants between the ages of 18 and 64, with the first participant dosed this week, the companies said. The follow-up period for each participant will be six months. (Deliso, 11/3)

A preventive treatment for lower respiratory tract infections caused by RSV got the go ahead from the European Commission on Friday, according to one of the companies that make it. The treatment is the first of its kind to protect all infants in their first year of life. (Christensen, 11/4)