Sanofi, GSK variant-specific COVID shot found effective against Omicron Late-stage data on an experimental COVID-19 vaccine from Sanofi and GSK has showed the shot confers protection against the Omicron variant of the virus, the companies said on Friday. Natalie Grover Reuters

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COVID cases rise in Southeast Asia, Middle East and Europe LONDON (AP) — The number of new coronavirus cases rose in Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Europe last week, while the number of deaths globally dropped by 16%, according to the World Health Organization's latest weekly pandemic report issued Wednesday. AP NEWS

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https://academic.oup.com/cid/advance-article/doi/10.1093/cid/ciac501/6611845

Hospitalized patients with severe COVID-19 during the Omicron wave benefited from a 4th vaccine shot--Israeli study

Waning vaccine-immunity and an increased incidence of COVID-19 during the Omicron outbreak led the Israeli Ministry of Health to recommend a fourth dose of BNT162b2 for high-risk individuals. This study assessed the effect of that dose for hospitalized patients with severe/critical, breakthrough COVID-19. ...

Among hospitalized patients with severe/critical breakthrough COVID-19, a recent fourth dose was associated with significant protection against mechanical ventilation or death, compared to three doses.