Multi-model ensembling projected that the Delta variant would lead to a substantial COVID-19 resurgence in the US, with higher vaccination uptake being a critical factor for limiting transmission and impact between states.

Model-inference reconstructed SARS-CoV-2 transmission dynamics in South Africa during March 2020 to February 2022, and quantified the immune erosion potential and transmissibility of three major variants (Beta, Delta, and Omicron), highlighting their common characteristics and the need for more proactive preparedness.

Selection acting on SARS-CoV-2 variants altering the infectivity profile depends on levels of transmission in the community, and this dependence is used to infer Alpha and Delta variants infectivity profiles.

Analysis of a variant without lysine in the intracellular domain reveals a ubiquitylation-independent signalling activity of the DSL ligand Delta and novel functions of the Neuralized and Mindbomb1 E3-ligases during Notch signalling.

An experimental animal model provides further insights into the host and viral mechanisms underlying airborne transmission of SARS-CoV-2.

Serum antibodies induced by CoronaVac tended to decrease over time, even though vaccinated with the homologous booster dose, and Delta and Omicron variants may be able to more efficiently evade the antibodies with time.

Intervention of CHI3L1 using anti-CHI3L1 monoclonal antibody or chitinase inhibitor kasugamycin blocks epithelial infection of various SARS-CoV2 variants, suggesting that CHI3L1 is a universal and effective therapeutic target of COVID-19 infection, including recent omicron variants.

Viral evolution can lead to mutations that render specific glycosylation sites dispensable for folding and for supporting the protein's function, allowing changes in the shield, and in the immunogenic profile.

Insights from integrating evolutionary predictions and protein dynamics unveil how specific mutations in the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein epistatically interact in order to influence spike protein interaction with human cells, potentially altering the virus's infectivity and immune evasion capabilities.

A large repertoire of nanobodies that target discrete regions of SARS-CoV-2 spike shows effective neutralization against variants of concern with many pairwise combinations resistant to escape and demonstrating synergistic neutralization activities.