COVID 19 Tech

Omicron-specific vaccine boosters are now in humans as trials begin

Enlarge / A vial of the current Moderna COVID-19 vaccine. (credit: Getty | Ivan Romano) The first doses of omicron-specific COVID-19 vaccines went into the arms of clinical trial participants this week. This takes place just as the towering wave of cases from the ultratransmissible coronavirus variant appears to be cresting in the US and […]

COVID 19 Tech

Omicron’s wave is at least 386% taller than delta’s—and crushing hospitals

Enlarge / Medical Director of the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) checks the vital signs of a COVID-19 patien while her husband rests in a bed next to her at Providence Cedars-Sinai Tarzana Medical Center in Tarzana, California, on January 3, 2021. (credit: Getty | Apu Gomes) Despite its widespread reputation for being mild, the ultratransmissible […]

COVID 19 Tech

WHO warns of potential for more variants as omicron subvariant found in US

Enlarge / World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (credit: Getty | Fabrice Cof) The head of the World Health Organization on Monday dampened optimism that the pandemic will subside in omicron’s wake, noting that global conditions are still ideal for the emergence of new variants. “There are different scenarios for how the pandemic […]