https://academic.oup.com/cid/advance-article/doi/10.1093/cid/ciac501/6611845

Hospitalized patients with severe COVID-19 during the Omicron wave benefited from a 4th vaccine shot--Israeli study

Waning vaccine-immunity and an increased incidence of COVID-19 during the Omicron outbreak led the Israeli Ministry of Health to recommend a fourth dose of BNT162b2 for high-risk individuals. This study assessed the effect of that dose for hospitalized patients with severe/critical, breakthrough COVID-19. ...

Among hospitalized patients with severe/critical breakthrough COVID-19, a recent fourth dose was associated with significant protection against mechanical ventilation or death, compared to three doses.

Rapid Covid tests give false negatives, but it may mean you're not contagious The tests seem to be most accurate when viral loads are high, so experts think a negative could mean you’re less likely to spread the virus. NBC News

In early January, more than 700 Stanford University athletes took rapid Covid tests upon returning to the campus. Those who tested negative — and some who tested positive — were also given PCR tests.

How common is long COVID? Why studies give different answers Nature - Enormous databases do not necessarily allow scientists to solve long COVID mysteries, such as how well vaccination protects against the condition. Ledford, Heidi nature

Clinical epidemiologist Ziyad Al-Aly has access to a treasure trove that many researchers can only dream of: millions of sets of electronic medical records from the US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), which provides health care for the country’s military veterans.

Comparing the Pfizer and Moderna Covid vaccines for young children We’ve laid out what’s known about the differences in the vaccines for the youngest children in the hopes it will parents make their decision. Helen Branswell STAT

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There are two vaccines. Which do you choose?

We can’t tell you which is best for your child. But we can tell you that in this age group, the Pfizer-BioNTech and the Moderna vaccines probably differ more than they do in any other age group on the vaccination spectrum.