First case of UK’s ‘Bristol variant’ of coronavirus that has a mutation that may weaken vaccines is discovered in the US, CDC director reveals The US has discovered its first case of the ‘Bristol variant’ that emerged in the UK Variant has same mutations as the UK’s earlier B117 variant that make it 70% more … Read more
Health and safety experts are calling on President Joe Biden‘s administration to recommend the widespread use of N95 masks The memo, obtained by CNN, has about a dozen signatories, including four members of Biden’s former coronavirus board that advised his transition team. The signatories, most of whom are doctors, say they want the Centers for … Read more
Washington, DC has reported its first cases of two highly contagious ‘super COVID’ variants that are sweeping the United States. Dr Laquandra Nesbitt, director of the District of Columbia Department of Health, announced on Thursday that three residents are confirmed to have the UK variant and one patient has the South African variant. Nesbitt said … Read more
Dr Anthony Fauci says there have been ‘no red flags’ after tens of thousands of pregnant women have received vaccines against COVID)-19. During a White House briefing on Wednesday, the nation’s top infectious disease expert said that expectant months have been given both Pfizer-BioNTech’s and Moderna’s shots with no unexpected side effects. ‘I want to … Read more
One in 10 Americans has received at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccine as immunization efforts continue to be ramped up, new data reveal. Currently, 32.8 million people in the U.S. – or 10 percent of the population – has received an initial dose and 9.8 million – 2.9 percent – are fully inoculated, … Read more
Cases of the ‘super COVID’ variant that originated in the UK are spreading rapidly across the United States, a new study published on Sunday claims. Researchers estimate that the variant, known as B 1.1.7., is between 35 percent and 45 percent more transmissible than strains seen earlier on in the pandemic. Because of its more … Read more
A Georgia clinic that flouted the state’s rules for who is eligible to get COVID-19 vaccins and gave teachers shots ahead of their turn has been barred from giving any vaccines for six months. State health officials seized about 470 doses of Pfizer vaccine from the Medical Center of Elberton on Friday, after discovering it … Read more
How Matt Hancock’s obsession with the film Contagion – which sees disease-gripped nations battling for limited vaccine supplies – helped inspire him to prioritise Britain’s jab rollout Former DHSC adviser said Matt Hancock would ‘keep referring to end of the film’ Movie depicted vaccines being handed out using a lottery based on birth dates The … Read more
The US is only sequencing about 2,300 coronavirus genomes a week in search of variants, and aims to sequence 7,000 weekly. The far smaller UK sequences 12,000 genomes a week.
The Biden administration will start shipping COVID-19 vaccines directly to U.S. pharmacies next week, ramping up immunizations as new and potentially more serious variants are appearing, the White House said on Tuesday. Jeff Zients, coordinator of the president’s COVID-19 task force, said some 6,500 retail pharmacies around the country will receive a total of one million … Read more