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- Coronavirus Live Updates: Covid variant XBB.1.5 likely resistant to AstraZeneca antibody drug, FDA says
Coronavirus Live Updates: Covid variant XBB.1.5 likely resistant to AstraZeneca antibody drug, FDA says
AstraZeneca Plc’s Covid-19 antibody drug likely won’t work against an ascendant new variant, the US Food and Drug Administration said Friday, leaving high-risk people with fewer protections as mutations mount. The variant, known as XBB.1.5, is the latest to wallop the US and now accounts for more than a quarter of US Covid cases. AstraZeneca’s antibody drug, Evusheld, was the last of its kind still authorized to prevent infections in high-risk people. Antibody therapies have been essential for treating and preventing disease in roughly 7 million immunocompromised Americans for whom vaccines and antivirals can be less effective. But Covid has continued to mutate, knocking antibody drugs off the market one-by-one. Stay with TOI for live updates-Read Less
XBB.1.5 is yet another descendant of Omicron and is an offshoot of XBB, first detected in October, which is itself a recombinant of two other Omicron sub-variants.
While the agency is awaiting additional data to verify how Evusheld works against XBB.1.5, it said it does not expect the drug to neutralize the subvariant due to similarities with other Omicron subvariants against which Evusheld does not work.
The subvariant has been causing concern among scientists after its rapid spread in the United States in December.
US FDA does not expect Evusheld to work against Omicron subvariant XBB.1.5
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Friday said it does not expect Astrazeneca's's COVID-19 antibody cocktail Evusheld to neutralize the Omicron subvariant XBB.1.5.
Netherlands to require Covid tests from China arrivals
Air passengers arriving from China will need to show a negative Covid-19 test to enter the Netherlands from next week, the Dutch health ministry said on Friday.
More than a dozen countries have slapped fresh travel regulations on travellers from the world's most populous nation, which is facing a surge in Covid cases following its decision to relax strict virus restrictions.
The Dutch measures, which will come into force on Tuesday, are in line with European Union recommendations, the ministry said.
"I think it is important for us bring in travel restrictions as part of European anti-Covid measures," Health Minister Ernst Kuipers said.
Xi Jinping calls China's COVID-19 policy "rational and well-thought-out": Report
Chinese President Xi Jinping defended his COVID-19 policy in his public address on the occasion of the new year, calling it "rational and well-thought-out."
In his first public address on new year, Xi Jinping did not speak about the government's unpreparedness and the sudden cancellation of the zero-COVID policy that led to a surge in COVID-19 cases in China, Geo-Politik reported.
He said that they have adopted the COVID response following a "science-based and targeted approach."
