Back to the complete issue
Tuesday, 11 January 2022

Prior common cold could protect against Omicron + Pfizer and Moderna race to produce omicron jabs

The Health Ministry reported 951 new covid-19 infections yesterday, up from 912 the day before. Egypt has now disclosed a total of 393,808 confirmed cases of covid-19. The ministry also reported 31 new deaths, bringing the country’s total death toll to 21,995.

Had a cold lately? It may offer some protection against covid-19: A small UK study found high levels of T cells — protective immune cells created by the body to fight some colds — in those who didn’t contract covid-19 despite being in close contact with an infected person, Bloomberg reported. T cells tend to survive longer in the human body than antibodies from covid vaccines and protect against a wider range of pathogens, potentially making them effective against different variants.

Pfizer’s omicron-specific booster will be ready in March, while Moderna’s will land in the fall, the CEOs of the two drugmakers told CNBC in separate interviews. Pfizer is already manufacturing its jab and expects trial results within days. Moderna’s booster is scheduled to enter clinical trials soon.

The US continues to break records: A record 132.6k people in the US are currently in hospital due to covid-19 as omicron sweeps the country, according to a Reuters tally.

Enterprise is a daily publication of Enterprise Ventures LLC, an Egyptian limited liability company (commercial register 83594), and a subsidiary of Inktank Communications. Summaries are intended for guidance only and are provided on an as-is basis; kindly refer to the source article in its original language prior to undertaking any action. Neither Enterprise Ventures nor its staff assume any responsibility or liability for the accuracy of the information contained in this publication, whether in the form of summaries or analysis. © 2022 Enterprise Ventures LLC.

Enterprise is available without charge thanks to the generous support of HSBC Egypt (tax ID: 204-901-715), the leading corporate and retail lender in Egypt; EFG Hermes (tax ID: 200-178-385), the leading financial services corporation in frontier emerging markets; SODIC (tax ID: 212-168-002), a leading Egyptian real estate developer; SomaBay (tax ID: 204-903-300), our Red Sea holiday partner; Infinity (tax ID: 474-939-359), the ultimate way to power cities, industries, and homes directly from nature right here in Egypt; CIRA (tax ID: 200-069-608), the leading providers of K-12 and higher level education in Egypt; Orascom Construction (tax ID: 229-988-806), the leading construction and engineering company building infrastructure in Egypt and abroad; Moharram & Partners (tax ID: 616-112-459), the leading public policy and government affairs partner; Palm Hills Developments (tax ID: 432-737-014), a leading developer of commercial and residential properties; Mashreq (tax ID: 204-898-862), the MENA region’s leading homegrown personal and digital bank; Industrial Development Group (IDG) (tax ID:266-965-253), the leading builder of industrial parks in Egypt; Hassan Allam Properties (tax ID:  553-096-567), one of Egypt’s most prominent and leading builders; and Saleh, Barsoum & Abdel Aziz (tax ID: 220-002-827), the leading audit, tax and accounting firm in Egypt.