The California Biotechnology Foundation is committed to keeping you up to date about COVID-19 testing, treatment and prevention advancements. The following resources track what progress has been made as of April 22, 2022. Notable advancements include:

• Novavax said its vaccine targeting both COVID-19 and the flu triggered an immune response similar to its stand-alone shots against each virus, according to recent data.
• Moderna plans to submit an application to U.S. health regulators for emergency use authorization of its COVID-19 vaccine among kids between the ages of six months to five years by end of the month.
• A new analysis from the Kaiser Family Foundation has found that nearly a quarter-million of COVID-19 deaths in the United States could have been prevented through vaccination.

Recent News

• Waiting for a COVID-19 vaccine for your under-5 kid? It may take a bit longer.
  Politico – April 21, 2022
  The Biden administration may now wait until as late as June to authorize a COVID-19 vaccine for the nation’s youngest children, three people with knowledge of the matter told POLITICO. The move marks yet another delay in the government’s effort to vaccinate children under the age of five, and comes even as the U.S. lifts broader public health measures meant to protect Americans from the still-raging pandemic.
• COVID-19 in California: Airlines welcome back passengers banned over masks
  San Francisco – April 21, 2022
  The U.S. Justice Department appealed a Florida judge’s ruling striking down the federal mask mandate for airplanes and other forms of transportation. But local jurisdictions wasted no time following the judge’s order: California’s public health department said it would no longer require masks on public transit, and agencies such as Muni, Caltrain and BART weighed in with their own updates.
• Report: Vaccinations could have prevented quarter-million COVID-19 deaths in U.S.
  Yahoo News – April 21, 2022
  A new analysis from the Kaiser Family Foundation has found that nearly a quarter-million COVID-19 deaths in the United States could have been prevented through vaccination. “We find that approximately 234,000 deaths since June 2021 could have been prevented with primary series vaccination,” reads the report, published. “These vaccine-preventable deaths represent 60% of all adult COVID-19 deaths since June 2021, and a quarter (24%) of the nearly 1 million COVID-19 deaths since the pandemic began.”
• Moderna to file for EUA of COVID-19 shot for very young kids by April end
  Reuters – April 20, 2022
  Moderna plans to submit an application to the U.S. health regulator for emergency use authorization of its COVID-19 vaccine among kids between the ages of six months to five years by end of the month, a company spokesperson said.The Omicron variant was predominant during Moderna’s pediatric trial, and the drugmaker said two doses were around 38% effective in preventing infections in 2 to 5-year-olds and 44% effective for children aged 6 months to under 2 years
• Novavax says vaccine targeting COVID-19 and flu shows promising results in early data
  CNBC – April 20, 2022
  Novavax said its vaccine targeting both COVID-19 and the flu triggered an immune response similar to its stand-alone shots against each virus, in an early indication that a combination vaccine targeting both viruses could prove effective though further study is necessary. Chief Medical Officer Filip Dubovsky, during a call with reporters, said the company’s early phase clinical trial found that up to 25 micrograms of the Covid formulation combined with up to 35 micrograms of the flu formulation triggered a promising level of protective antibodies. Participants in the phase one trial had a median age of 59 and all of them had previously received COVID-19 vaccines. Novavax is presenting the data at the World Vaccine Congress in Washington, D.C.
• CDC advisers mull what’s next for COVID-19 boosters
  CNN – Wednesday 20, 2022
  Vaccine advisers to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention continue to mull over what the future of COVID-19 booster shots might look like — and they acknowledge that entirely different vaccine formulations could be needed. At their meeting Wednesday, the members of the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices discussed their next steps around recommending additional booster doses of Covid-19 vaccines for the general public. Currently, additional booster doses are recommended only for certain people with weakened immune systems and adults 50 and older.
• California’s COVID cases rise for the fourth week but ‘we’re not seeing a lot of severe disease’
  San Francisco Chronicle – April 20, 2022
  The number of Californians hospitalized with COVID-19 has dipped below an average of 1,000 this week — the first time that’s happened since the pandemic’s summer lull last June. Patients hospitalized with COVID-19 infections numbered 964 as of Tuesday, according to state data. Hospitalizations are continuing to fall despite a recent statewide rise in cases. The case growth follows months of declines since the peak of the omicron surge in January. California is now averaging about 2,800 confirmed cases per day, up from about 2,300 at the beginning of the month.
• If you get COVID-19, how do you get anti-COVID drugs?
  LA Times – April 19, 2022
  If you come down with the coronavirus and are at high risk, how can you get access to anti-COVID drugs? The medications are becoming increasingly available, and there is no longer a shortage of the drugs in most locations, California health officials say. Here’s what you should know.
• Moderna data yield hope for better COVID-19 boosters, but highlight complexity of figuring out how to give them
  STAT – April 19, 2022
  New data from Moderna offer hope that booster shots against COVID-19 could become at least somewhat more effective than they already are. But the data also point to how difficult it could be to determine exactly which COVID shots to give as annual boosters. Moderna released data testing a booster shot that is bivalent, meaning it contains equal amounts of vaccine from two different strains of the virus. This booster, currently known by the code number mRNA-1273.211, contains equal mRNA amounts of ancestral SARS-CoV-2
• Why do some people never get COVID-19 while others get it several times, even if vaccinated?
  San Francisco Chronicle – April 18, 2022
  There are many people who have never gotten COVID-19, despite repeated exposure. At the other extreme, there are lots who’ve gotten sick from the coronavirus more than once, despite being vaccinated and even boosted. Do we know why? A lot of factors are at play, experts said, including genetics and variations in immune response. Scientists are working towards finding a clear answer.