Month: January 2021

JOHANNESBURG—A new variant of the coronavirus that is surging across South Africa may make the existing Covid-19 vaccines less effective, but is unlikely to be totally resistant to the shots, according to leading researchers who have studied the mutations and the vaccines. The variant, which has already shown up in patients in Europe and other African countries, has quickly become the predominant one in South Africa, exacerbating a second wave of infections that is overwhelming hospitals and has driven daily deaths to record highs. South African researchers are racing to determine whether it makes patients more seriously ill than other variants of the virus. They are also testing how it responds to antibodies from people who have recovered from Covid-19 an...

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The cases have been mostly isolated: One in New York, one in Florida, one in Georgia and two in Colorado. The exception has been California, and specifically San Diego County, where a robust surveillance operation has found 32 cases of the variant. National Institutes of Health Director Francis Collins told The Washington Post on Wednesday: “I would be surprised if that doesn’t grow pretty rapidly.” There is no evidence that the variant, which has recently been detected in more than 30 countries, carries a greater risk of severe disease or death. But the appearance of coronavirus variants, including another mutation-laden variant that has shown up in South Africa, presents a challenge for every country hoping to crush the pandemic. A more transmissible virus could drive more patients ...

A pharmacist dilutes the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine while preparing it to administer to staff and residents at the Goodwin House Bailey's Crossroads, a senior living community in Falls Church, Virginia, on December 30, 2020. Brendan Smialowski | AFP | Getty Images The Covid-19 vaccine appears to cause severe allergic reactions at a significantly higher rate than other vaccines among the first wave of Americans to receive the life-saving immunizations, though the reactions are still rare, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Wednesday. The CDC said there were 21 cases of anaphylaxis — a severe and life-threatening allergic reaction that occurs rarely after vaccination — out of the nearly 1.9 million people who received their first shot of Pfizer's...

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