Dr Robert Hess: Weekly Omicron Update An end to the Omicron wave is in sight All regulations and restrictions in England have now been removed (though not in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland where such decisions are devolved to regional parliaments). According to UK Health Minister Sajid Javid, England will be the most open country…
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Dr Robert Hess: Weekly Omicron Update Teams of researchers around the world are working hard to understand the new Omicron variant of the coronavirus. It is the most highly differentiated among the five variants that have so far qualified for the World Health Organization classification “variant of concern” since the pandemic began. The number…
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Dr Robert Hess: Heavily mutated Covid variant has been identified, rapidly labelled a “variant of concern” and named Omicron. Infection Omicron was first detected in South Africa last week, leading countries around the globe, including the United States, to impose travel restrictions on the southern African nation and at least seven others in the region….
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Dr Robert Hess: Update on Booster jabs and vaccine breakthroughs. Infection rates in Germany, Austria and the Netherlands have risen to a new and worrying high. Hospitals have had to postpone planned surgical procedures, and intensive care units are rapidly filling up. The situation in Germany is unfortunately a forerunner of what is likely to…
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What next for the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic? The number of infections worldwide is on the increase, and with it, the number of vaccine breakthroughs. However, it is not only the rising rate of infection that is the root cause of this, but also the waning effect of the vaccines themselves. Nevertheless, individuals without any form of…
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Dr Robert Hess: A first step in the right direction: BioNTech introduces the “individualization” concept into vaccination strategy. Where are we now, almost two years into the pandemic? Nine months after the first vaccines for the prevention of Covid-19 were approved, are there any conclusions that can be reliably drawn? Since December 2020, 2.39 billion…
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Dr Robert Hess: FDA grants full approval to the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine – What exactly does full FDA approval of a vaccine mean? The Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine first received Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) from the U.S. authorities in mid-December 2020 for administration to persons aged 16 and older. On Monday, the FDA announced that it…
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Dr Robert Hess: Any decision on whether to receive a booster jab (and which one to choose) or to wait for a next-generation vaccine should be based on the following criteria. 1 – Which is preferable – a booster jab or a next-generation vaccine? This depends on a number of factors, primarily which next-generation vaccine…
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As Dr Robert Hess expected, the pandemic is becoming more complex and problematic in nature, which makes it all the more difficult to make any firm predictions for the autumn. In focus: Vaccine side-effects versus post-acute sequelae (“Long Covid”). The forecast of Dr Robert Hess in the spring of 2021 that the pandemic would take…
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Differing opinions about the Lambda variant: Super mutant, successor to Delta or damp squib? For the first time since the SARS-CoV-2 Task Force was established 18 months ago, a difference of opinion has arisen, specifically with regard to the Lambda variant. What everyone agrees on is that the Lambda or C.37 variant is clearly more…
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