Month: February 2021

The chance to get the first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine will be at a premium in Los Angeles County next week as a continuing supply crunch and a hefty queue of those needing a second shot will leave few opportunities for those looking to start their inoculations, a top health official said Friday. Most appointments offered at the major county-run vaccination sites will be needed for second doses, according to Dr. Paul Simon, chief science officer for the L.A. County Department of Public Health. At the county’s five mega-PODs, or mass points of distribution, only a very limited number of people will be able to receive their first doses Monday. “We’re just struggling with the supply, the limited supply, and feeling an obligation to make sure that people that had a first dose are able to get...

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Anthony S. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, noted that it appears a vaccine is better than natural infection in protecting people, calling it “a big, strong plug to get vaccinated” and a reality check for people who may have assumed that because they have already been infected, they are immune. In the placebo group of the trial for Novavax’s vaccine, people with prior coronavirus infections appeared just as likely to get sick as people without them, meaning they weren’t fully protected against the B.1.351 variant that has swiftly become dominant in South Africa. The variant has been detected only a handful of times in the United States, including a case reported Friday in Virginia, which became the third state to identify the presence of the ...

Many people with Covid-19 temporarily lose their sense of smell. As they recover, it usually returns - but some are finding that things smell different, and things that should smell nice, such as food, soap, and their loved ones, smell repulsive. The numbers with this condition, known as parosmia, are constantly growing, but scientists are not sure what causes it, or how to cure it.