HOSPITALIZATIONS 23 TIMES HIGHER FOR UNVACCINATED: CDC

Unvaccinated adults were 23 times more likely to be hospitalized with COVID-19 during the omicron wave than adults who were vaccinated and boosted, according to a new study that further highlights the importance of coronavirus vaccination and booster shots.

The study, released Tuesday, from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found by far the highest rates of cases and hospitalizations among unvaccinated people, followed by vaccinated but not boosted people, with vaccinated and boosted people having the most protection.

The study used data from Los Angeles County as of Jan. 8, during the omicron wave.

Hospitalizations were 5.3 times higher among the unvaccinated than vaccinated but not boosted.

“Efforts to promote COVID-19 vaccination and boosters are critical to preventing COVID-19–associated hospitalizations and severe outcomes,” the study states.

While the largest effects were in reducing hospitalizations, the study also shows that vaccines and boosters lowered the chance of getting infected at all. The protection is not total, meaning there are still frequent breakthrough cases, but the severity is far lower among people who are vaccinated and boosted than among the unvaccinated.

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Pfizer begins FDA vax filing for kids under 5

© Pfizer Media Relations via AP

Pfizer said Tuesday that it has begun applying for authorization for its COVID-19 vaccine for children ages 6 months to 4 years from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

The announcement marks a step forward in the process for the only age group for whom COVID-19 vaccines are not yet authorized.

The wrinkle: The application is for two doses, though the company said it realized three doses will eventually be needed. Pfizer said it is applying now at the request of the FDA, so the agency can start the process on authorizing two doses. The theory is authorization could later be expanded to three doses once the data becomes available.

“As hospitalizations of children under 5 due to COVID-19 have soared, our mutual goal with the FDA is to prepare for future variant surges and provide parents with an option to help protect their children from this virus,” Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said.

“Ultimately, we believe that three doses of the vaccine will be needed for children 6 months through 4 years of age to achieve high levels of protection against current and potential future variants. If two doses are authorized, parents will have the opportunity to begin a COVID-19 vaccination series for their children while awaiting potential authorization of a third dose.”

Timeline: Pfizer said in December that the vaccine application for children under 5 could take as long as the middle of 2022, given that the immune response from two doses was not sufficient and a third dose needed to be tested. It said there were no safety concerns.

The latest move could significantly move up the timeline to begin the process with the first two shots, with a third following later.

The FDA announced Tuesday that its vaccine advisory committee would meet on Feb. 15, indicating that a final decision could come fairly soon after that.

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No signs BA.2 subvariant more severe: WHO

© Getty Images

The World Health Organization (WHO) said Tuesday that the new BA.2 subvariant of the omicron strain of COVID-19 is no more severe than omicron’s original strain.

“There’s no indication that there’s a change in severity,” Maria Van Kerkhove, the WHO’s technical lead for COVID-19, said at Tuesday’s press briefing.

She added that BA.2 has a “slight increase in growth rate” over BA.1, meaning the subvariant is slightly more transmissible than the omicron variant’s original strain.

“Beyond that, the data is really quite limited,” she said, noting that “most of the research that is available is on the subvariant BA.1.”

“BA.2 is one of the sublineages of omicron, so BA.2 is omicron, and it is a variant of concern,” Van Kerkhove explained. “It’s in the family of the variants of concern around omicron.”

“We need people to be aware that this virus is continuing to circulate and it’s continuing to evolve,” she added. “That’s why it’s really important that we take measures to reduce our exposure to this virus, whatever variant is circulating.”

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Tsunami-hit Tonga goes into lockdown

Tonga has gone into lockdown after recording two Covid-19 cases among port workers helping distribute international aid in the wake of the volcanic eruption and tsunami that devastated the Pacific country last month.

The cases seem to confirm fears among Tongan officials that the arrival of aid could bring an outbreak of the virus, which could represent a bigger danger to Tonga than the tsunami.

The prime minister, Siaosi Sovaleni, said the lockdown, which began at 6pm on Wednesday, will be open-ended, but will last for at least 48 hours, at which point it will be reviewed.

Tonga is still reeling from the eruption of the undersea Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano on 15 January, which sent gas 20km into the air, prompted a tsunami, with waves reaching 15 metres (49ft), and blanketed the country in ash.

Read the full story from our Pacific editor Kate Lyons here.

Three people died in Tonga as a result of the tsunami and the government estimates that 84% of people in the country have been affected by it. Photograph: Tonga Red Cross Society/Reuters

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WORLD  STATS

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