Companies are testing their COVID-19 vaccines against the new variant, omicron.
An FDA advisory committee will meet tomorrow to discuss its recommendation for Merck’s COVID-19 antiviral.
The worldwide case count stood at more than 261.98 million Monday afternoon, with more than 5.2 million reported deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University’s COVID-19 dashboard.
Please read below for the latest updates. Daily COVID-19 tracker entries from April 29 to Nov. 29 can be found here. Daily entries from Nov. 2, 2020, to April 28 can be found here.
UPDATED: Monday, Nov. 29 at 4 p.m.
Producers of the world’s top COVID-19 vaccines, including Moderna, AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson and Pfizer, say they are moving quickly to test their shots against the new omicron variant. They also are developing shots tailored to the new strain. Moderna said it has a three-pronged strategy to address the threat. Story
Amid news of the new variant, President Joe Biden downplayed the need for new lockdowns as the World Health Organization looks for more answers on the variant’s impact. Story
Pfizer is boosting manufacturing capability and now expects to make 80 million courses of its oral COVID-19 drug Paxlovid by the end of 2022, Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said. The drug awaits emergency use authorization from the FDA. Story
As for Merck‘s COVID-19 pill, molnupiravir, an FDA advisory group will vote Tuesday on whether to recommend that the FDA grant emergency use authorization, NBC reports. The company recently reported the risk reduction in hospitalization and death from the Ridgeback Therapeutics-partnered antiviral fell from 50% to 30% in the final analysis.
