Researchers develop antibody that neutralizes all major COVID variants in tests on mice Researchers at Boston Children’s Hospital have developed an antibody that has proved to neutralize all COVID-19 variants, including the Omicron subvariants BA.5 and BA.4, which have dominated the nation these past few months. By using genetically modified mice in lab tests, researchers at Boston Children’s and Duke University found the new antibody, SP1-77, could potentially lead to new treatments and vaccine strategies, my colleague Martin Finucane reported. Other top stories: Health officials urge people to get their annual flu vaccinations at the same time as they get their bivalent COVID-19 shot before the end of October. CVS announces that some locations are out of the reformulated booster shots made by Moderna, which better protect against the widely circulating COVID subvariants. After being in a nationwide lockdown in response to the coronavirus outbreak last year, New Zealand dropped nearly all of its COVID-19 restrictions Monday. As more COVID-19 cases are detected in China, millions of people continue to experience lockdowns, including college students, under the government’s “zero-COVID” policy.   A health worker gets a swab sample from a woman being tested for COVID-19 at a testing station in Beijing on Sept.15, 2022. (Photo by JADE GAO/AFP via Getty Images)     By the Numbers Massachusetts on Thursday reported 7,936 new confirmed coronavirus cases and 37 deaths in the past week. As of Wednesday, there were also 101,117 vaccinations, including boosters, over the week. Vaccinations have surged since the rollout of the reformulated boosters. Massachusetts Cases: 1,860,512 Deaths: 20,206 Current Hospitalizations: 591 People Vaccinated: 5,469,085 (as of Sept. 14) People Boosted: 3,965,810 (as of Sept. 14) Source: Massachusetts Department of Public Health Rhode Island Cases: 421,665 Deaths: 3,661 Current Hospitalizations: 89 People Vaccinated: 900,147 (as of Sept. 14) People Boosted: 505,296 (as of Sept. 14) Source: Rhode Island Department of Health US Vaccine Doses Administered: 605,708,007 Cases: 95,544,979 Deaths: 1,052,716 Source: Johns Hopkins Worldwide Vaccine Doses Administered: 12,223,469,837 Cases: 610,770,417 Deaths: 6,522,338 Source: Johns Hopkins View all updates and numbers on Globe.com Current Waste Water Levels Waste water levels in Mass. have continued to trend upward this week.   Waste Water COVID-19 tracking Source: Massachusetts Water Resources Authority • Ryan Huddle / Globe Staff         Tracking Variants and Viruses BA.5 remained the dominant variant of cases nationwide by far in the week ending Sept. 10, followed by BA.4.6 and BA.4. The dominant variant: BA.5 (87.5% of US cases) Other variants: BA.4.6 (9.2%), BA.4 (2.2%) Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Other top stories Monkeypox cases in Massachusetts have declined, but new data shows ethnic and racial disparities within vaccinations and cases. The Food and Drug Administration cautioned against the overuse of the antiviral drug to treat monkeypox. Governor Kathy Hochul of New York declared a state of emergency Friday amid a growing polio outbreak. Polio has detected in waste water samples from around the state, according to health officials.