Month: January 2021

An Oxford University scientist said Sunday there is still uncertainty over the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines on the South African variant of the virus.  Sir John Bell told Times Radio that more research is required, and it’s not yet known if the vaccines will work on the new strain, known as known as 501.V2, according to reports.  “If you want my gut feeling, I think the vaccine will be effective against the Kent strain and I don’t know about the South African strain. I think there’s a big question mark above that,” he said, according to The Mirror.  But, Bell added that he doubts the vaccines would be rendered completely ineffective against 501.V2. “I think it’s unlikely that these mutations will turn off the effects of vaccines entirely – I thi...

LONDON (AP) — Britain on Monday took another giant step in the fight against COVID-19, ramping up its immunization program by giving the first shots in the world from the vaccine created by Oxford University and pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca. Dialysis patient Brian Pinker, 82, was the first to get the new vaccine shot, administered by the chief nurse at Oxford University Hospital. Pinker said he was so pleased and that he can “now really look forward to celebrating my 48th wedding anniversary with my wife Shirley later this year.” Since Dec. 8, Britain’s National Health Service has been using a vaccine made by Pfizer and the German firm BioNTech to inoculate health care workers and nursing home residents and staff. The Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine boosts that arsenal and is cheaper and ...

A California hospital is battling a coronavirus outbreak that’s infected at least 44 people in the emergency room ― including one who died of complications due to the infection ― and it may have been due in part to an inflatable Christmas tree costume. According to NBC Bay Area, the costume used at the Kaiser Permanente San Jose Medical Center was powered by a fan that may have spread droplets around the emergency room on Dec. 25:   This is the air powered costume an employee wore in the Emergency Dept.of Kaiser Permanente San Jose Medical Center Xmas day to spread cheer. Turns out employee unknowingly had covid , now 43 employees have covid .Kaiser investigating if costume blower helped spread the virus. pic.twitter.com/DLLi8z5e2T— Marianne Favro (@mariannefavro) January 3, 2021 ...

HANOI(Reuters) - Vietnam has agreed to buy 30 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine produced by AstraZeneca Plc, the government said on Monday, adding that authorities are also seeking to purchase vaccines from other sources, including Pfizer Inc. The Southeast Asian country has previously agreed to get a Russian vaccine though also said it would not rush to secure vaccine deals, citing the potential for high financial costs and after managing to contain its coronavirus outbreaks to only 1,494 cases, with 35 deaths. The AstraZeneca and Oxford University COVID-19 vaccine is cheaper than some others and can be stored at fridge temperature, which makes it easier to transport and use, particularly in developing countries. "We've already signed an agreement to guarantee the AstraZeneca vaccin...

The U.S. government is considering giving some people half the dose of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine in order to speed vaccinations, a federal official said on Sunday. Moncef Slaoui, head of Operation Warp Speed, the federal vaccine program, said on CBS’ “Face the Nation” that officials were in talks with Moderna and the Food and Drug Administration about the idea. Moderna’s vaccine requires two injections. “We know that for the Moderna vaccine, giving half of the dose to people between the ages of 18 and 55, two doses, half the dose, which means exactly achieving the objective of immunizing double the number of people with the doses we have,” Slaoui said. “We know it induces identical immune response” to the full dose, he added. Moderna and the FDA could not immediately be reached...