Category: Covid-19 Vaccine

Drugmaker Pfizer is now shipping doses of its COVID-19 vaccine out to states and health care workers are expected to start getting the vaccine as early as today. Dr. Ellen Niemitalo from the Tulsa Health Department joined the News On 6 team virtually to answer questions about the vaccine as the rollout begins.

Monday, December 14th 2020, 8:21 am

By: News On 6

Drugmaker Pfizer is now shipping doses of its COVID-19 vaccine out to states and health care workers are expected to start getting the vaccine as early as today.

Dr. Ellen Niemitalo from the Tulsa Health Department joined the News On 6 team virtually to answer questions about the COVID-19 vaccine as the rollout begins.

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Dr. Ellen Niemitalo From The Tulsa Health Department Discusses The COVID-19 Vaccine - News On 6

Monday, Pfizer released results from a study that shows their COVID vaccine is effective for children aged 5 to 11.

Monday, September 20th 2021, 5:32 pm

Pfizer released good news Monday on the COVID-19 vaccine front.

In a study with over 2,000 kids ages 5 to 11, Pfizer and Biontech officials said the vaccine was safe, well tolerated and showed robust neutralizing antibody responses.

The dosage for the children 5 to 11 is less than the dosage for those 12 and over. But it is a still a two-dose regimen taken 21 days apart.

This is the first pivotal trial of any COVID-19 vaccine for children under 12. Officials said they hope to submit this data to the FDA and other agencies as soon as possible.

"The risk of hospitalization and death is much lower in children who get COVID," said Dr. Dale Bratzler, OU Health's Chief COVID-19 officer. "But it's not zero and some kids get very sick, and they can also bring it home to adults."

Bratzler was excited about the data but knows some parents might be hesitant at first.

"I know there are a lot of parents out there that are waiting and will get their kids vaccinated and I know there are some parents that will take a step back wait and see," said Bratzler.

But kids can't get it just yet. The vaccine needs to get emergency use authorization from the FDA and then the CDC advisory panel will give the final guidance for administering the vaccine to this age group.

"I am going to say a month to six weeks at the maximum," said Bratzler. "It will be a very important step to reduce the case counts in Oklahoma to get as many children vaccinated as we possibly can."

There is a study for kids under the age of 5. Those results are expected to come out this year.

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Pfizer Says Vaccine Is Safe For Kids 5 To 11 - News On 6

(Precision Vaccinations News)

Novavax Inc. recently announced its Nuvaxovid XBB.1.5 dispersion for injection, COVID-19 Vaccine (recombinant, adjuvanted) (NVX-CoV2601) becameavailable to pharmacies across the United Kingdom (U.K.) for private healthcare providers to offer an updated protein-based non-mRNA option as part of the 2024 vaccination season.

On April 18, 2024, Novavax stated in a press release, Today is an important milestone for our organization. It demonstrates our commitment to deliver an updated protein-based COVID-19 vaccine as we evolve into an endemic market.

It also underscores our place as a long-term partner to public health.

We believe a diverse vaccine portfolio and broader access can be vital in protecting communities in the U.K. and elsewhere.

Our participation in the U.K. private market follows the receipt of a Wholesale Dealers License from the U.K. Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency and the U.K. Health Security Agencys latest Green Book update in February 2024 includes our updated COVID-19 vaccine for active immunization to prevent COVID-19 in individuals aged 12 and older.

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Updated Protein-based COVID-19 Vaccine Available to UK Private Healthcare Providers - Precision Vaccinations

Officials say a dozen MTA workers are off the job today following accusations of submitting fake COVID-19 vaccination cards.

The MTA Inspector Generals Office says a Metro-North employee was fired and 11 Long Island Railroad workers were suspended without pay.

Officials say the groups vaccination cards were provided by Julie Devuono, of Amityville, the owner of Wild Child Pediatric Healthcare.

As News 12 has reported, Devuono confessed to forging vaccination cards. Prosecutors say her company made more than $1 million in the scheme.

Four of the LIRR workers admitted they were never actually vaccinated.

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11 LIRR employees suspended without pay, accused of submitting fake COVID-19 vaccine cards - News 12 Long Island

The Oklahoma City VA Health Care System will be offering the first dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine on Saturday.

Saturday, January 30th 2021, 10:23 am

By: News 9

The Oklahoma City VA Health Care System provided the first dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine to veterans on Saturday.

The VA was able to administer the first dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine to more than 150 veterans over the age of 65 and helped them set-up an appointment for their second dose.

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OKC VA Hosts Walk-In Vaccine Clinic Veterans Over 65 - News On 6

COVID-19 mRNA vaccines stimulated mucosal immunity in people previously infected with SARS-CoV-2, but generated only a tiny amount of immunity in people who had never been infected, according to a cohort study using data from the French CoviCompare trials.

Among trial participants who received the Moderna mRNA-1273 (Spikevax) vaccine in early to mid 2021, SARS-CoV-2 spike-specific saliva IgA levels were significantly higher in those with previous infection compared with the most responsive SARS-CoV-2-naive participants at day 180 (P<0.001), reported Guy Gorochov, MD, PhD, of Sorbonne University in Paris, and colleagues in JAMA Network Open.

In participants without prior infection, compared with day 1, increases of specific salivary IgA levels were smaller, especially after vaccination with the Pfizer-BioNTech BNT162b2 (Comirnaty) vaccine, reaching statistical significance only at day 57 (P=0.01).

SARS-CoV-2 spike-specific IgG saliva levels increased after one or two shots in participants with previous infection and those who never had infection.

"Until now, there was still a considerable controversy in the literature regarding the capacity of intramuscular mRNA vaccination to induce a mucosal immune response," Gorochov told MedPage Today in an email. "In this study, we show that current vaccines can, at best, induce traces of specific antibodies in the saliva in individuals that were never infected by the virus before vaccination."

"After intramuscular vaccination, we did not expect to detect SARS-CoV-2-specific secretory IgA antibodies" in the saliva of SARS-CoV-2-naive people, he said. "Since the vaccine is injected in muscles, we expected an appearance of specific antibodies in the serum, but not in secretory body fluids for induction of a protective barrier effect."

"It is very important to underline that a clear stimulation of mucosal immunity [was] only observed in vaccinees with prior SARS-CoV-2 infection," he added, despite the detection of small amounts of spike-specific salivary IgA in vaccinated SARS-CoV-2-naive participants.

"Nasal delivery of vaccines might one day improve their local efficacy," Gorochov noted. "Further studies would then be needed to address the association between local secretory IgA levels and prevention of infection or transmission of SARS-CoV-2."

IgA is the principal immunoglobulin isotype in secretions of the respiratory and intestinal tracts, whereas IgG is the principal isotype found in serum and extracellular fluid. IgA is monomeric in human serum but is also produced locally in mucosal tissues mostly under dimeric or even polymeric forms and released as secretory IgA, the authors wrote. Monomeric IgA is also present in saliva following passive transport from blood.

The mRNA-1273 vaccine appeared to elicit a stronger immune response than the BNT162b2 vaccine. Among the SARS-CoV-2-naive patients, serum anti-spike IgG and IgA levels were significantly higher among people who received the mRNA-1273 vaccine (P<0.001 for all comparisons).

This study included 180 patients from the CoviCompare M trial and 267 patients from the CoviCompare P trial, enrolled from February 19 to June 8, 2021 in France. After exclusions, 427 participants were included in this study. Of these, 120 had a documented SARS-CoV-2 infection at least 5 months before receiving a single dose of the BNT162b2 vaccine. The remaining 307 patients had received two doses of either the mRNA-1273 vaccine or the BNT162b2 vaccine and had no prior documented SARS-CoV-2 infection. The median age of participants was 68 years, and 53.4% were men.

The researchers measured total saliva IgA and IgG, SARS-CoV-2 spike- and nucleocapsid-specific serum antibodies, and secretory SARS-CoV-2-specific IgA using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) tests. Ultrasensitive digital ELISA technology was used to measure and compare spike-specific serum and salivary IgG and IgA levels.

The main limitation of the study was that the authors were unable to determine whether the increase in specific secretory IgA in infection-naive individuals could be attributable to asymptomatic or seronegative exposures to SARS-CoV-2, Gorochov said.

Katherine Kahn is a staff writer at MedPage Today, covering the infectious diseases beat. She has been a medical writer for over 15 years.

Disclosures

The studies were funded by the Ministre des Solidarits et de la Sant and Ministre de l'Enseignement Suprieur, de la Recherche et de l'Innovation, the ANRS Maladies Infectieuses mergentes, and Assistance Publique-Hpitaux de Paris.

Gorochov reported no relevant financial disclosures, but several co-authors reported ties to industry, including Pfizer and Moderna.

Primary Source

JAMA Network Open

Source Reference: Gorochov G, et al "Serum and salivary IgG and IgA response after COVID-19 messenger RNA vaccination" JAMA Netw Open 2024; DOI: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.8051.

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COVID Shot Boosts Mucosal Immunity in Previously Infected People - Medpage Today

Alexander Sikov/iStock via Getty Images

GSK (NYSE:GSK) is reportedly suing Pfizer (PFE) and partner BioNTech (BNTX) for patent infringement over the use of certain mRNA technology for their COVID-19 Comirnaty vaccines.

GSK, also known as GlaxoSmithKline, filed the suit in a Delaware federal court on Thursday, alleging that Pfizer and BioNTech's Comirnaty vaccines infringe upon vaccine technology developed by GSK, according to Reuters.

A Pfizer spokesperson told Reuters that the company was confident in its intellectual property position on the vaccines and would vigorously defend itself against the claims in court.

The case is the latest filed by GSK against Pfizer over technology used in its vaccines. Last year, GSK sued Pfizer, alleging that Pfizers RSV vaccine Abrysvo infringed upon GSKs patents for its RSV vaccine Arexvy.

In 2022, COVID-19 vaccine developer Moderna (MRNA) also sued Pfizer and BioNtech for patent infringement over Comirnaty. The case is ongoing.

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GSK sues Pfizer, BioNTech over COVID-19 vaccines patents (NYSE:GSK) - Seeking Alpha

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11 LIRR employees suspended without pay, accused of submitting fake COVID-19 vaccine cards - East Oregonian

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11 LIRR employees suspended without pay, accused of submitting fake COVID-19 vaccine cards - InsideNoVa

The federally supported mass community vaccination center opened in north Tulsa three years ago.

It was a focused outreach to seek equitable access for minority populations, build trust in the Black community hurt by past medical maltreatment and help overcome justifiable vaccine hesitancy, said Rev. Jamaal Dyer, senior pastor of Friendship Church.

The temporary clinic at Tulsa Community Colleges Northeast Campus, 3727 E. Apache St., could administer up to 3,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine per day for eight weeks.

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Three years ago: Community vaccination center opens at TCC Northeast Campus - Tulsa World