Covid News LIVE Updates: Covid variant XBB.1.5 likely resistant to AstraZeneca antibody drug, FDA says – The Economic Times
The variant, known as XBB.1.5, is the latest to wallop the US and now accounts for more than a quarter of US Covid cases. AstraZeneca’s antibody drug, Evusheld, was the last of its kind still authorized to prevent infections in high-risk people.
Antibody therapies have been essential for treating and preventing disease in roughly 7 million immunocompromised Americans for whom vaccines and antivirals can be less effective. But Covid has continued to mutate, knocking antibody drugs off the market one-by-one.
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Netherlands to require Covid tests from China arrivals
Air passengers arriving from China will need to show a negative Covid-19 test to enter the Netherlands from next week, the Dutch health ministry said. More than a dozen countries have slapped fresh travel regulations on travellers from the world’s most populous nation, which is facing a surge in Covid cases following its decision to relax strict virus restrictions.
US FDA does not expect Evusheld to work against Omicron subvariant XBB.1.5
The US Food and Drug Administration said it does not expect Astrazeneca’s’s COVID-19 antibody cocktail Evusheld to neutralize the Omicron subvariant XBB.1.5.
Xi calls China’s COVID-19 policy ‘rational and well-thought-out’
- Chinese President Xi Jinping defended his COVID-19 policy in his public address on the occasion of the new year, calling it ‘rational and well-thought-out.’
- In his first public address on new year, Xi Jinping did not speak about the government’s unpreparedness and the sudden cancellation of the zero-COVID policy that led to a surge in COVID-19 cases in China, Geo-Politik reported.
- He said that they have adopted the COVID response following a ‘science-based and targeted approach.’
US keeps offering China its Covid vaccines. China keeps saying no
China has rebuffed repeated US offers to share advanced vaccines as Beijing battles a fast-spreading wave of Covid-19, a rejection that’s led to growing frustration among American officials concerned about a resurgence of the pandemic.
China in talks with Pfizer for generic COVID drug
China is in talks with Pfizer Inc to secure a licence that will allow domestic drugmakers to manufacture and distribute a generic version of the US firm’s COVID-19 antiviral drug Paxlovid in China.
Portugal to require negative COVID test from China air travellers
Portugal will require air travellers from China to show proof of a negative COVID-19 test done no more than two days before departure, the health ministry said on Friday, following other nations that have implemented such restrictions.The requirements take effect at 12 a.m. (0000 GMT) on Sunday and airlines are responsible for complying with the measure on boarding.
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