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Pfizer Says COVID Booster Offers Protection against Omicron

Pfizer said Wednesday that a booster dose of its COVID-19 vaccine may protect against the new omicron variant even though the initial two doses appear significantly less effective.

Pfizer and its partner BioNTech said lab tests showed a booster dose increased by 25-fold the level of so-called neutralizing antibodies against omicron.

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WHO Europe Says Covid Vaccine Mandates Should be 'Last Resort'

The World Health Organization (WHO) in Europe on Tuesday cautioned against making Covid vaccines mandatory, while urging better protection of children among whom cases are high.

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On the Web and on the Streets, Covid Protests Get Nasty

A call is out on Telegram for people opposing Covid restrictions to share private addresses of German "local MPs, politicians and other personalities" who they believe are "seeking to destroy" them through pandemic curbs.

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EU Health Ministers Meet as Omicron Cases Rise in Europe

EU health ministers met on Tuesday as national governments step up measures to try to curb the Omicron Covid-19 variant spreading across Europe while winter closes in.

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Omicron 'Almost Certainly' Not More Severe than Delta, Fauci Says

Top U.S. scientist Anthony Fauci said Tuesday that while it would take weeks to judge the severity of the new Covid-19 variant Omicron, early indications suggested it was not worse than prior strains, and possibly milder.

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Putin Hopes WHO Soon Approves Russia's Sputnik V Vaccine

Russian President Vladimir Putin has voiced hope for a quick approval of the country's Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine by the World Health Organization, saying the move is essential to expand its global supplies.

Speaking during a video call with Francesco Rocca, president of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, Putin said receiving the WHO's vetting is necessary to spread the Russian vaccine more broadly around the world, including free supplies.

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Countries Agree to Negotiate WHO Pandemic Accord

World Health Organization member states agreed Wednesday to start building a new international accord on how to handle future pandemics and ensure there can be no repeat of Covid-19.

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Omicron Brings COVID-19 Vaccine Inequity 'Home to Roost'

The emergence of the new omicron variant and the world's desperate and likely futile attempts to keep it at bay are reminders of what scientists have warned for months: The coronavirus will thrive as long as vast parts of the world lack vaccines.

The hoarding of limited COVID-19 shots by rich countries — creating virtual vaccine deserts in many poorer ones — doesn't just mean risk for the parts of the world seeing shortages; it threatens the entire globe.

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Merriam-Webster Chooses Vaccine as the 2021 Word of the Year

With an expanded definition to reflect the times, Merriam-Webster has declared an omnipresent truth as its 2021 word of the year: vaccine.

"This was a word that was extremely high in our data every single day in 2021," Peter Sokolowski, Merriam-Webster's editor-at-large, told The Associated Press ahead of Monday's announcement.

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S. Africa Doctor Sees Mild Symptoms from Omicron

South African doctors say that the rapid increase in COVID-19 cases attributed to the new omicron variant cases is resulting in mostly mild symptoms.

Dr. Unben Pillay, a general practitioner in Gauteng province where 81% of the new cases have been reported, says he has seen a sharp increase in new COVID-19 cases in the past 10 days.

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