The NB.1.8.1 COVID-19 variant was linked to a large surge of hospitalizations in parts of Asia earlier this year.

World-renowned infectious-disease epidemiologist Martin Kulldorff — who was fired from Harvard Medical School last year after refusing the COVID vaccine — just got a new gig. Kulldorff has been named a member of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices.

Children with acute COVID-19 and MIS-C show significant disruptions in lipid metabolism, including patterns resembling adult severe COVID-19. These findings highlight potential long-term cardiovascular risks in pediatric SARS-CoV-2 cases and underscore the need for follow-up care.

Meissner was previously listed in April as a consultant to the RSV vaccines work group for the CDC committee, before Kennedy fired its advisers.

While COVID-19 transmission remains low in the US, health experts are anxious about the potential for a big summer wave as two factors seem set for a collision course: a lull in infection activity that suggests protective responses have likely waned in the population, and a new SARS-CoV-2 variant with an infectious advantage over other variants.

The new COVID-19 variant NB.1.8.1, nicknamed ‘Nimbus,’ now accounts for 37% of U.S. cases. It spreads fast, causes severe sore throat, and may evade immunity due to spike mutations.

NB.1.8.1 — a new COVID-19 variant tied to a surge in China — now accounts for around 37% of cases in the U.S., according to variant proportion estimates from the CDC. Four notes:

The CDC says Taiwan's COVID-19 outbreak may have peaked and could wind down by late July as the number of medical visits starts to slow.