Coronavirus News Explained

Large Scale Study on Pfizer's Effectiveness Against the Delta Variant           With the delta, or B.1.617.2 variant spreading rapidly to over 100 countries and causing a surge of COVID-19 cases, there have been concerns as to whether or not COVID-19 vaccines provide sufficient efficacy against the highly transmissible variant. A previous study analyzed the antibody levels of 20 individuals who were fully vaccinated with Pfizer and later exposed to a SARS-CoV-2 variant. It was found that the delta variant did not significantly reduce antibody levels. While this study served as a good starting point for researching vaccine efficacy against delta, more recent studies utilizing COVID-19 case data and larger sample sizes have come out and produced more detailed conclusions. One of these studies was published on July 21, 2021 in the New England Journal of Medicine  and investigated the efficacy of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccine against the delta variant. About the Study     The study u

 Organ Transplant Recipients Receive 3 Vaccine Doses           As of July 13, 2021, 159 million Americans or 48.5% of the U.S. have been fully vaccinated for COVID-19. Most of these individuals will produce the antibodies needed to fight off COVID-19 infection in response to coronavirus exposure. However, some recipients of the vaccine, like the immunocompromised, produce little to no antibodies in response to vaccines or infection. Immunocompromised individuals commonly consist of blood cancer survivors, organ transplant recipients, and those taking drugs that kill or block B cells, which produce the antibodies needed to fight an infection. Previously, a study published in March 2021 investigated the effects of one dose of the Pfizer vaccine on organ transplant recipients. Only 17% of the study group produced detectable antibody levels three weeks after vaccination. ( See Immunocompromised Individuals and the COVID-19 Vaccine ) Antibody responses in transplant recipients were also fo