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COVID-19 virus changes: what you need to know about new variants
The virus that causes COVID-19 is changing all the time, but scientific leaders believe there is still no reason to panic about known variants.
USA TODAY
Several states and cities have reversed COVID-19 restrictions this week.
In Montana, Greg Gianforte’s government lifted the state mask mandate Friday. In Nevada, Gov. Steve Sisolak announced Thursday that he would gradually end a month-long “halt” on economic activity to delay the deadly revival of the virus during the holidays. And in Ohio, Gov. Mike DeWine has promised to remove a curfew rule that has been in place since November.
Meanwhile, restricted indoor eateries began in New York on Friday, and Chicago expanded its limits on indoor eateries.
The withdrawals come when U.S. health officials announced new guidelines for reopening schools on Friday, saying schools can reopen safely by adhering to five key mitigation strategies.
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In the headings:
►New COVID-19 varieties spread rapidly in several regions of France, causing stricter mask rules and a curfew arrangement along the English Coast.
►One of the team’s investigators, Dominic Dwyer, told Reuters and The Wall Street Journal that China had refused to provide raw data on early COVID-19 cases to a World Health Organization team investigating the origins of the pandemic. . The head of the WHO said on Friday that all hypotheses about the origin of the coronavirus were still being investigated and analyzed after a team of investigators said earlier this week that the theory that the virus had leaked from a virology laboratory in Wuhan would no longer follow. does not become.
►Florida hit a bad milestone on Friday when state health officials reported that more than 10,000 residents and staff of long-term care facilities had died from COVID-19.
► Wearing a mask will be necessary for a few months, even if vaccinations start, said dr. Anthony Fauci said Friday on ABC’s “Good Morning America.” “Once 75-80% of the population is vaccinated, the country can ‘retreat a bit after strict public health measures,’ ‘he added.
► The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has agreed to increase Moderna’s dose of his COVID-19 vaccine in each vial from 10 to 14, The New York Times reported on Friday. The Times reports that the change, which could boost the country’s population by 20%, could take effect before the end of April.
► People who are fully vaccinated and who meet certain criteria no longer need to remain in quarantine after exposure to someone with COVID-19, says the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
📈 Today’s numbers: According to Johns Hopkins University data, there are more than 27.5 million confirmed cases of coronavirus and 481,600 deaths. The global total: More than 108.2 million cases and 2.38 million deaths. According to the CDC, more than 69 million doses of vaccines have been distributed and approximately 48.4 million have been administered.
📘 What we read: People of color suffered most from COVID-19. But now that there is a vaccine, they are much less likely to have received a first dose – for many of the same reasons. Read more.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s policy of allowing companies to market their COVID-19 antibody tests without authorization was “flawed” and allowed inefficient products to flood the market, two FDA officials said in New England on Saturday. Journal of Medicine written.
In March, the agency began allowing companies to market their antibody tests without permission from the FDA, as long as the companies notified the agency and were able to show that the test was working.
“As a result, the market was flooded with serology tests, some of which performed poorly and many of which were marketed in violation of FDA policy,” said Dr. Jeffrey Shuren, director of the FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health, wrote. , and Dr. Timothy Stenzel, director of the FDA’s office for in vitro diagnostics and radiological health.
Inexperienced or dubious companies have profited from the vacuum of FDA oversight, including one selling vape pens and one led by a self-proclaimed technology evangelist, a U.S. investigation found last year.
“We realized that the policies set out in our March 16 guidelines were flawed,” the authors said. “If we knew what we know now, we would not allow serological tests to be marketed without the FDA investigation and authorization, not even within the limits we initially set.”
As of February 1, 2021, the FDA removed the list for 225 tests from its website, issued 15 warning letters and placed 88 businesses on import alert for violations, the authors said.
Massachusetts program to quickly vaccinate ‘abusive’ people accompanying seniors
Some people in Massachusetts offer rides and even money for the chance to take advantage of a state rule that allows those who accompany people 75 years and older to take a coronavirus vaccine at the same time.
But the result of online ads from people wanting to cut the vaccination line drew a severe reprimand from Governor Charlie Baker, who warned against offers to help complete strangers. “If you are contacted by someone to take you to a website, report it to the authorities,” Baker said Thursday.
Elderly people should only accept help from someone they trust, he said. Many senior centers in the state offer assistance. Some officials have called on the Republican governor to introduce the vaccine partnership program.
“Although well-intentioned, it took less than 24 hours before this new state policy was abused,” Boston City Councilman Andrea Campbell said in a statement.
Democratic State Representative Steve Owens said a group of lawmakers urged Baker to interrupt the program and noted that he saw an advertisement of someone offering $ 250 to send an eligible resident to a vaccination site.
– Associated Press
Oxford University plans to test the COVID-19 vaccine (manufactured and distributed by AstraZeneca) for the first time in children, and becomes the latest vaccine developer to determine if the coronavirus shot is effective in young people.
The trial, announced Saturday, seeks to recruit 300 volunteers between the ages of 6 and 17, with up to 240 receiving the COVID-19 vaccine, and the rest being a vaccine against meningitis.
Andrew Pollard, lead researcher on the Oxford vaccine trial, says that although most children do not become seriously ill due to COVID-19, it is important to determine the safety and immune response to the vaccine in children and adolescents, as some children may do. benefit from vaccination. ‘
– Associated Press
Ohio’s efforts to clear up overdue death reports propelled the U.S. to a beautiful one-day record of 5,443 COVID-19 death reports Thursday, Johns Hopkins University data shows. The previous record was 4,436 cases reported exactly one month earlier.
Ohio reported 63 deaths Tuesday, 721 deaths Wednesday and 2,559 deaths on Thursday.
Deaths in the US have been declining slowly since peaking a few weeks ago. The country now reports on average less than 100,000 new cases per day. That’s still more than 1 new case every second, but that’s less than half the rate the country reported in January.
– Mike Stucka
California on Friday released the long-awaited race and ethnicity data for COVID-19 and the results show that black people so far account for only 2.8% of all people who have received at least one shot.
White people received nearly 33 percent, according to data collected by the California Department of Public Health.
The data did not immediately explain the difference. It also showed that Asian Americans who received at least one vaccine dose made up 13.1%, Latinos 15.8% and multi-race 13.9%.
California – and several other states – have come under fire in recent weeks for lagging behind in reporting data on how vaccinations are delivered across ethnic groups. Lack of data hides the transparency of vaccination vaccinations, say researchers in health equity, and the lack of data harms those most vulnerable. So far, less than 20 states have announced vaccinations by race and ethnicity, and the data are incomplete.
CDC guidelines for reopening schools: vaccinations are not a must
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says public schools can reopen safely amid the pandemic if a number of safety measures are taken, including where possible 6 meters of physical distance within school buildings. And while vaccinating teachers is important, according to the CDC, it is not a must for personal education.
The CDC on Friday unveiled new expected guidelines for the reopening of schools that are still closed and for holding classes virtually as the COVID-19 virus rages. President Joe Biden has repeatedly pointed to the guidelines as the key to his goal of reopening the majority of schools within his first 100 days.
The guidelines – referred to as a ‘road map’ and ‘one-stop shop’ to reopen schools safely, are not federal mandates, but rather ‘recommendations based on the best available evidence’.
– Joey Garrison
After losing their homes amid COVID-19, more people live in cars, RVs
Americans are fueled by misery through their pandemics. And their ranks are likely to grow as the government safety net wipes out and evictions and negatives increase.
“It is in times of crisis that the fragility of our systems is exposed,” said Graham Pruss, a postdoctoral fellow at the Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative at the UC San Francisco Center for Vulnerable Populations.
Even before COVID, millions struggled to afford a decent place to live. The pandemic has made the housing crisis even worse, Pruss says. He expects an increase in the number of homeless people taking refuge in cars, vans, campers and campers – and not just in the most expensive regions of the country such as the San Francisco Bay Area where vehicles are increasingly a form of affordable housing. became, but all over the country. Read more.
– Jessica Guynn
Contributing Contributions: The Associated Press