Since May the World Health Organization has been using letters of the Greek alphabet, in order, to name coronavirus variants. Delta was the most dominant one, followed by eight others -- including Epsilon, Iota and Lambda -- that so far have mostly fizzled out.
A panel of experts gathered by the Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday narrowly endorsed drugmaker Merck’s COVID-19 antiviral pill, moving the drug a step closer to becoming the first pill authorized by the agency to treat the coronavirus.
The top U.S. infectious disease official, Dr. Anthony Fauci, told President Joe Biden on Sunday it will take about two weeks to have definitive information on the new coronavirus variant Omicron that has sparked new travel restrictions and shaken financial markets.
With an expanded definition to reflect the times, Merriam-Webster has declared an omnipresent truth as its 2021 word of the year: vaccine. "This was a word that was extremely high in our data every single day in 2021," Peter Sokolowski, Merriam-Webster’s editor-at-large, told The Associated Press ahead of Monday's announcement.
Pfizer Inc (PFE.N) said on Monday its COVID-19 vaccine provided strong long-term protection against the virus in a late-stage study conducted among adolescents aged 12 to 15 years.
The US Food and Drug Administration on Friday authorized boosters of the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna Covid-19 vaccines for all adults.
The agency expanded emergency use authorization for booster doses of both the mRNA vaccines beyond who was previously eligible; boosters had been authorized for anyone 65 and older who was vaccinated with the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines at least six months ago and for certain adults at high risk of infection or of severe disease.