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Round-up of Covid-19 news.

Posted on 11th May 2023

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The Covid-19 Crisis

This article on the BBC reports on the recent announcement by the WHO (World Health Organisation) that Covid-19 no longer represents a "global health emergency". Most of you had probably already noticed that things had become much more relaxed, with mask rules rescinded virtually everywhere, and less government pressure to get vaccines or boosters.

You should, however, be aware that there are a few Covid related restrictions in force. including those on international travel. Basically, if you want to fly to another country, you still need to have proof of up to date vaccinations; expect this requirement to continue for a couple of years.

Vaccines

It has become clear over the last two years that vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 (the virus which causes Covid-19) become less effective over a period of about 6 months. This has spawned the industry of booster shots. Now, as reported by Futurity, a group of researchers at Rutgers University have developed a new vaccine which they hope will provide longer lasting protection. That hope is not, as yet, proven (only time will tell), so don't get too excited. The new vaccine, MT-001, is still based on the virus' spike protein, which is very prone to mutations, so this news report could be nothing more than wishful thinking.

Long Covid

There is little progress regarding Long Covid; certainly nothing groundbreaking.

Long Covid seems to be a group of different syndromes with different symptoms. This inconvenient fact is the main reason why there is, so far, no reliable diagnostic test for the condition. It also means that there is unlikely to be a single effective treatment.