coronavirus, immunology

Rollouts of the shot have ground to a halt following reports of blood clots, but health authorities say that these fears are unfounded and vaccination programs should continue.

Mix-and-match shots could simplify vaccine rollout and stimulate more-robust immune responses. Ongoing clinical trials will soon give answers.

Sabra Klein, a biologist at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, describes how SARS-CoV-2 affects men and women differently.

Instead, the full report will be available in mid-March.

The P.1 variant, which has also been detected in five US states, could be responsible for cases of reinfection, according to a preprint.

A treatment of two monoclonal antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 is ninefold less effective in the lab against the B.1.351 variant than against the dominant version of the virus.

Stronger interferon production, greater T cell activation, and increased susceptibility to autoimmunity are just some of the ways that females seem to differ from males.

Males and females show differences in gene expression, cell activation, and antibody production in response to some viral infections, but whether these influence COVID-19 outcomes is still unclear.

Geeta Swamy of Duke University School of Medicine speaks with The Scientist about starting what she considers a long-overdue clinical study of COVID-19 vaccines in pregnant women.

A case study finds SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in placental cord blood after maternal vaccination.

Death rates among blood cancer patients who contract COVID-19 are higher than for those with other cancers, pointing to impaired immunity that makes it hard to overcome the virus.

Researchers identify deletions in the N-terminal domain of the spike protein that allow the coronavirus to avoid antibody neutralization and that may contribute to the emergence of new variants.

Facing new variants of SARS-CoV-2, some vaccines may offer more robust protection or be more easily redesigned to target them.

With many millions of people waiting several weeks to receive a second COVID-19 vaccine dose in some countries, experts consider the possibility that SARS-CoV-2 could evolve vaccine resistance.

As politicians try to schedule an end to the pandemic, scientists say the virus will stick around as an endemic disease similar to the common cold.

New data suggest that the company’s approved COVID-19 vaccine protects against different virus variants, but could be less effective against the one that originated in South Africa.

A preprint casts doubt on vaccine effectiveness in light of certain mutations in the 501Y.V2 variant that emerged from South Africa.

A large study of UK healthcare workers finds that immunity after coronavirus infection lasts for months, but those with antibodies may still be able to carry and spread the virus upon reexposure.

The immunosuppressive drugs tocilizumab and sarilumab improved survival and recovery time of intensive care COVID-19 patients, according to a preprint.