Looks like Italy is having (another) bad time with coronavirus. Rome, Milan, and Venice all have additional restrictions because of Covid. Italy coronavirus: Nation prepares for another lockdown as Covid-19 cases grow exponentially - CNN
Sound like they could use those AZ doses sitting in our warehouses. Are these reinfections from different variant?
We should send them those doses since that vaccine is not yet approved here. Focus on the ones that are.
Biden to lend 4M of 7M "relasable" AZ doses in our stockpiles to Mexico and Canada. Biden administration is considering sending some AstraZeneca vaccine doses to Canada and Mexico - CNNPolitics
France insituting 4 week lockdown as they face another surge on infections and hopitalizations Covid-19: France enters third national lockdown amid ICU surge
US is way ahead of EU in vaccinations. More bad news from Europe Covid pandemic peaks in Eastern Europe ruins Easter
Interesting article on Covid's effects on children. Some is old information, like Kawasaki Disease. Coronavirus-inflammatory syndrome in children causes neurological symptoms in half of cases, study suggests
India sets the record for most Covid cases in a single day for a country, with a third of a million. https://www.usnews.com/news/health-...ighest-daily-coronavirus-count-of-any-country The country is running out of oxygen in the hospitals. India is about 10% vaccinated. Apparently they are NOT at herd immunity.
Meanwhile Taiwan, population 23million, is now up to 11 coronavirus deaths . . . total. I think they have had a smidge over 1k cases.
Here is the first piece I have seen trying to explain something that I have been pondering. There were a fair amount of think pieces not too long ago about how India had avoided Covid. Of course we now know that’s not the case. David Leonhardt posits that a lot of the immunity that came from asymptomatic exposure has worn off and the natural relaxation of protocols has caused the increase. He doesn’t mention variants but I wonder if that’s also playing a role The Morning: India's new Covid mystery
Biden now agrees to share the 60M Astrazenica vaccines sitting in US warehouses. Past due, hopefully it is effective against the primary strain in India Seems that the plant that contaminated the J & J vaccine is the same plant that made all thes AZ doses and it is going to take some time before the FDA approves them as being safe for use. Did not know that the AZ doses weren't considered safe for use due to manufacturing issues. U.S. to share up to 60 million vaccine doses amid pressure to aid desperate countries (msn.com) Even as the Biden administration now prepares to share vaccine, it could be weeks or months before those doses reach other countries, because the FDA must complete its safety review. AstraZeneca vaccine in the United States has been produced at an Emergent BioSolutions plant in Baltimore that has since paused vaccine manufacturing because of safety issues. . One major problem there occurred when 15 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine were contaminated by having the AstraZeneca vaccine mixed in. However, the AstraZeneca doses are not believed to have been affected, according to an administration official with knowledge of the situation who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive matter. Officials said the United States would ensure vaccine doses were safe before sending them abroad. “Over the next few months, before any AstraZeneca doses are shipped from the United States, the FDA will confirm any such doses meet its expectations for product quality,” Psaki said. “This is being done in the context of the ongoing review of all doses made at the plant where these AstraZeneca doses were produced.” Administration officials also said discussions were underway to determine how exactly to allocate and distribute the doses once they are cleared by the FDA. As many as 10 million doses could be sent out within weeks, pending FDA safety checks. Roughly 50 million additional doses are in various stages of production and could be exported within months.
There is mounting evidence that the mRNA's are successful in provoking a T-cell mediated response to the virus, including the variants, even if the variants are evading the antibodies. Pfizer conducted a small scale trial in S Africa where their vaccine was 100% against moderate and severe disease (granted only 800 people). To me, that is still a win. Covid-19: Treatments, Cures, and Vaccines Additionally, more and more data is being collected in labs in support of the idea that the T-cells are not affected by mutations (even the B.1.351 and P.1 variants) and consequently the BNT162b2 (and almost certainly the Moderna vaccine by extension) is effective in protecting people from severe disease from this virus. Negligible impact of SARS-CoV-2 variants on CD4+ and CD8+ T cell reactivity in COVID-19 exposed donors and vaccinees
Italian fact checkers were concerned enough about this that they notified authorities. It turns out, almost all of the footage from the extended video is taken from a graphic video game. The entire thing is a hoax.
While Covid is again on the decline in the U.S., daily worldwide cases are reaching all-time highs. This is largely due to the issues in India, but apparently several South American countries are struggling too. COVID Live Update: 153,339,127 Cases and 3,212,704 Deaths from the Coronavirus - Worldometer
A harrowing look into India's current situation. It's freaking awful. Their Prime Minister has the blood of thousands on his hands.