Coronavirus vaccine and COVID variant updates for 12-21-2021

<p>This is Vaccine 411, the latest coronavirus vaccine information for December 21st, 2021.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Moderna said a booster of its vaccine looks like it protects against Omicron in lab testing and this current version of the shot can still be a "first line of defense against Omicron." With Omicron spreading as fast as it is, the company didn’t see where there would be time to develop an Omicron-specific vaccine. </p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>A win for Novavax. The EU gave the go ahead to its vaccine for use in the 27-nation bloc, making it the fifth approved COVID vaccine. It’s two-doses and right now it’s only for people 18 and older. If you don’t like new things, this is a protein vaccine that uses older technology that’s been around for years. Novavax is currently testing how its vaccine holds up against Omicron. </p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Few are denying Omicron is a rapid spreader, highly contagious. In very short order, it’s become the dominant version of the coronavirus in the U.S., accounting for 73% of new infections last week. That’s almost a six-fold increase in Omicron's share. Consider that you only started hearing about it as recently as November 26.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>The President of the United States was at risk of joining our celebrity infections list. He was exposed to a staff member who recently tested positive, around them for about half an hour on Air Force One going from Philadelphia to South Carolina. The staff member was fully vaccinated and boosted. The president took an antigen test Sunday and a PCR test Monday, and both were negative.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>It’s been two years. How are scientists and health officials in the U.S. doing at gathering accurate and timely data that help inform policy? Terrible. Politico talked to more than a dozen state and federal officials involved in case tracking, whose comments ranged from it being “particularly galling” to “a horrible job” to “it’s embarrassing.” In fact, since other Western countries do it significantly better, the US administration has relied