Month: May 2021

India’s top scientific minds talk to Aditi Tandon about what could have been done and what needs to be done next A woman takes a selfie while she gets a Covid-19 vaccine dose in Prayagraj.A medic at a genome sequencing laboratory at an airport in New Delhi.VK PAUL is Member (Health), NITI Aayog, and chairman of the National Expert Group on Covid-19 Vaccine Administration. The second Covid wave has been punishing. Is a third one looming? We are still learning about SARS-CoV-2 virus dynamics. We have seen in multiple geographies that the pandemic comes in waves because a part of the population, which is unexposed, remains vulnerable and the virus can attack this population and create a new outbreak. The possibility of a third wa...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) — The following is a roundup of some of the latest scientific studies on the novel coronavirus and efforts to find treatments and vaccines for COVID-19, the illness caused by the virus. Delaying second Pfizer/BioNTech dose boosts antibodies in elderly Delaying the second dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine beyond the originally recommended three-week gap used by the companies in clinical trials appears to induce a stronger antibody response in the elderly, UK researchers found. Shortly after the vaccine became available, UK health officials advised that the second dose should be given 12 weeks after the first to allow more people to get protected by a first dose early on. In a new paper seen by Reuters and expected to appear on medRxiv on Friday ahead of pee...

The Oregon Health Authority on Saturday reported three COVID-19 deaths and 751 new cases. The new figures were announced as businesses continue scrambling to figure out their policies around face coverings after the Oregon Health Authority followed federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance in recommending that masks were no longer necessary in most public settings. Cases of the virus, meanwhile, have been trending down since a late-April peak. Vaccines: Oregon reported 42,051 newly administered doses, which includes 26,502 Friday and the remainder from previous days. Where the new cases are by county: Baker (1), Benton (9), Clackamas (92), Clatsop (3), Columbia (9), Coos (7), Crook (7), Deschutes (93), Douglas (11), Harney (2), Hood River (5), Jackson (39...

9Health expert Dr. Payal Kohli said she's concerned about the physical and mental impacts on kids after Colorado loosened COVID-19 restrictions. DENVER — As vaccinated Coloradans leave their masks behind, some parents with kids too young to get the vaccine wonder and worry about the health and safety of their children. “It feels nice that the restrictions are loosened, but I think we’re both really wary of what’s going to happen now that it seems like the floodgates have just opened," said Abby Ward. Ward and her husband, Mike, kept their heads on a swivel Saturday morning as they watched t...