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covid update july 19, 2022: omicron boosters coming soon, tourists stranded in beach city and saskatchewan roughriders forced to sit out

from shutting down sports to ruining vacations, covid-19 continues to spoil the fun as we churn through a seventh wave.

by maija kappler

jul 19 2022

2 minute read

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covid-19 daily update: getting reinfected is becoming a big deal

a trio of saskatchewan roughriders defenders tackle an ottawa redblacks player. troy fleece / regina leader-post

omicron-specific boosters could be out later this year

pfizer and moderna are both working on vaccine boosters that specifically target the omicron ba.1 and ba.2 variants, which are more resistant to the existing vaccine than previous variants. the entirely new vaccine is different from the “tweak” on the existing formula that pfizer announced last month in order to better protect against omicron. in trials, the vaccines didn’t perform as well against the newer subvariants ba.4 and ba.5, but they “still generally performed well,” nbc news reported. the u.s. food and drug administration has said the new boosters could be available to americans as soon as this fall.

getting infected again not a walk in the park for everyone

remember when we thought that once you caught covid, you had enough antibodies to protect you from ever getting the virus again? unfortunately, that’s not the case, especially given omicron’s high transmission rate and the fact that we’re now entering a seventh wave.

the good news is that for the most part, reinfections aren’t all that bad — although there’s a big caveat.

“from all the literature i’ve seen, when reinfections do happen with increasing frequency, they’re not usually worse,” angela rasmussen, a virologist with the university of saskatchewan’s vaccine and infectious disease organization in saskatoon, told cbc news . “and that’s exactly what you’d expect, because that’s how the immune system works.”

but that’s not the case for everyone, dr. amesh adalja of johns hopkins center for health security also told cbc news. “what we’re learning is that not every second infection or third infection is going to be benign — and that’s particularly going to be true when you’re dealing with higher-risk populations.” the elderly and people with compromised immune systems can actually have worse outcomes with reinfection. so everyone, and especially those groups, should still take precautions.

and even footballers can’t dodge the virus

fans of the saskatchewan roughriders are no doubt disappointed with the cancellation of today’s game after multiple players and staff members contracted covid after going head-to-head with the toronto argonauts in wolfville, n.s. the team announced that “at least five players” are in various states of covid protocol, according to global news .

over the next few days, all players, coaches and staff who traveled to the maritimes will undergo mandatory testing.

the one time being stranded in a beach city is a bad thing

more than 2,000 tourists who visited the popular destination of beihai, a chinese beach city, are now stranded there due to covid lockdown regulations, bbc news reported .

those who hadn’t been in contact with anyone who tested positive would be allowed to leave, city officials said on sunday, as would people who visited high-risk areas but tested negative for the virus. everyone else would have to stay and quarantine. all of the city’s nearly two million residents would also have to test for the virus.

one visitor to beihai took to douyin, the chinese tiktok, to complain about the situation.

“i just finished my 3 months lockdown in shanghai,” they said in the video, according to the bbc. “i just came to beihai for a breath of fresh air, did i annoy anyone?”

maija kappler is a reporter and editor at healthing. you can reach her at mkappler@postmedia.com

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covid update july 19, 2022: omicron boosters coming soon, tourists stranded in beach city and saskatchewan roughriders forced to sit out

from shutting down sports to ruining vacations, covid-19 continues to spoil the fun as we churn through a seventh wave.

omicron-specific boosters could be out later this year

getting infected again not a walk in the park for everyone

covid-19 daily update: are vaccine boosters effective during the omicron wave?

you have better odds of being struck by lightning than getting myocarditis after a covid-19 vaccine

and even footballers can’t dodge the virus

the one time being stranded in a beach city is a bad thing

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covid update july 19, 2022: omicron boosters coming soon, tourists stranded in beach city and saskatchewan roughriders forced to sit out

from shutting down sports to ruining vacations, covid-19 continues to spoil the fun as we churn through a seventh wave.

omicron-specific boosters could be out later this year

getting infected again not a walk in the park for everyone

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covid-19 daily update: are vaccine boosters effective during the omicron wave?

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and even footballers can’t dodge the virus

the one time being stranded in a beach city is a bad thing

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