Month: December 2021

Enlarge / Dr. Anthony Fauci, chief medical adviser to the president, during the daily press briefing at the White House on December 1, 2021, in Washington, DC. (credit: Getty | Anna Moneymaker)

Though booster doses of current vaccines can foil the ultra-transmissible omicron coronavirus variant, a towering wave of omicron cases may peak in the US as soon as January, officials warn.

Scientists are still racing to fully understand the variant, which first gained international attention in late November. But a few things are becoming increasingly clear: the variant spreads stunningly fast, and it can largely circumvent protection from two vaccine doses. However, people who have received a third vaccine dose are well-protected against severe disease.

In a White House press briefing Wednesday, top infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci reviewed the early laboratory and real-world data on vaccine effectiveness. Numerous laboratory studies have all shown that levels of neutralizing antibodies from two doses of a vaccine are significantly lower against omicron—potentially so low that they do not protect against the variant. But studies looking at neutralizing antibodies after a third dose consistently find a substantial increase in protection. One study found a 38-fold rise in the level of neutralizing antibodies against omicron after a third dose of an mRNA vaccine.

Enlarge (credit: Ars Technica)

If you’re still looking to snag some good values for your holiday shopping, the Dealmaster is here to help. Leading today’s roundup of the best tech deals we can find is a new low price for the Apple Watch Series 7—it’s currently down to $349 at several retailers, which is $30 less than the previous low and a $50 drop from Apple’s MSRP. Not every color is discounted, but listings at Amazon, Target, and Best Buy all say the device will ship in time for Christmas as of this writing.

The Series 7 is currently the top pick in our guide to the best smartwatches. That’s probably not a shock—the Apple Watch has been recommended by many reviewers for a long time—but all the things that have made it stand above other wearables still apply here. Apple’s watchOS remains head and shoulders above competing platforms in terms of app support and variety. The waterproof design is handsome, durable, and relatively easy to operate. It tracks the requisite health metrics—heart rate, sleep, various exercises, etc.—and runs apps quickly. You can buy a wide variety of alternative watch bands down the road if you want. It largely leaves Android users in the dark, but if you use an iPhone, it’s not outrageous to say that the Series 7 can serve as an effective substitute to your phone, at least in smaller doses.

There’s no major need to upgrade if you own a Series 6, but compared to that model, the Series 7’s big addition is a larger display. It’s only slightly bigger physically, but Apple has also shrunk down the black bezels surrounding the screen. All told, there’s about 20 percent more available screen space for viewing apps and messages; there’s now support for a QWERTY keyboard as well. And while the watch’s battery life is still only OK, lasting roughly a day per charge, it does recharge faster than before. You’ll need a capable power brick, but if you do, you can refill the Series 7 from zero to 100 percent battery in a little over an hour. With prior models, this took about two and half hours.

Enlarge / A Tesla showroom and service center on Friday, Sept. 4, 2020, in Burbank, California. (credit: Getty Images | Kent Nishimura )

Six more women sued Tesla yesterday, alleging that the company failed to stop rampant sexual harassment at factory facilities in Fremont, California, and service centers in the Los Angeles area.

The lawsuits are similar to one filed last month by employee Jessica Barraza, who alleged that she and other women working in the carmaker’s Fremont factory have been subjected to “nightmarish conditions of rampant sexual harassment,” including offensive comments, propositions, and “frequent groping on the factory floor.” Barraza alleged that managers and human resources personnel failed to protect her even though she complained repeatedly.

The lawsuits filed yesterday “detail specific instances of harassment that each woman experienced, and the lack of action from Tesla when these claims were reported,” according to a press release from law firm Rudy Exelrod Zieff & Lowe, which represents Barazza and the six other women. “Those who complained were sometimes threatened into silence or faced undesirable transfers. The message was clear, there would be no consequences for abusers. The six women describe an environment in which it was normal for women to be catcalled, ogled, touched inappropriately, and propositioned.”

Enlarge / Scenes like this might become less common if a new SARS-CoV-2 protease inhibitor becomes widely available. (credit: Getty Images)

On Monday, pharmaceutical giant Pfizer released more data on its anti-COVID-19 drug, named Paxlovid. The company had released its initial data on the drug in early November, and it looked extremely promising: a drop in hospitalization and death of 89 percent in high-risk patients. But preliminary results like that don’t always hold up, as we saw with a drug from Merck. But there’s good news in this case: Paxlovid appears to be just as effective once more patients and numbers from a second trial are included.

On trial

Paxlovid inhibits a viral protein called a protease, which normally breaks chemical bonds in other viral proteins, converting them into their mature, functional forms. This processing is needed before the virus is able to copy its own genome, so inhibiting the protease should block viral reproduction.

Pfizer started at least two clinical trials with Paxlovid. One involved unvaccinated individuals who are at high risk from COVID-19 due to age or health issues. The second trial involved moderate risks: either unvaccinated individuals with no risk factors, or those who have been vaccinated but are at elevated risk. In both trials, treatments started within days of a confirmed infection.