It is a race against time, but most countries do not have enough or enough capacity to monitor these rapidly emerging new variants. Although there is now surveillance in the US, we still rely on information from scientists in the UK.
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Here’s more of today’s news:
President Biden wants to use NFL stadiums to distribute COVID-19 vaccines
President Joe Biden says his government plans to take up the NFL over its offer to use all of the league’s stadiums as COVID-19 vaccination sites.
Biden cites the offer that Commissioner Roger Goodell made in a letter last week during an interview on CBS ‘Super Bowl preview program.
Pastor gets hearty dismissal
A pastor in Suffolk County received a heartbreaking dismissal this weekend from staff at Stony Brook University Hospital.
Doug Jansson (42) became ill with COVID-19 in December and was received life-support. He has fully recovered and now says he is looking forward to returning to the work he loves with the church.
More than 2.1 million vaccine doses administered
Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that the state has administered more than 2136,209 doses of vaccinations through the state’s vaccination program. The total federal allocation of vaccine providers to week 8 providers will be completed today. On Sunday at 11 a.m., the distribution sites in New York received 1,874,975 first doses and already administered 87 percent 1,627,191 first vaccinations and 76 percent of the first and second doses. The awarding of the Week 9 award by the federal government begins mid-week.
Health officials fear big Super Bowl events
The coronavirus pandemic is on a collision course with one of the biggest sporting events of the year: Super Bowl Sunday.
Health officials fear the big event could cause another boom. The warnings come from all corners of the country ahead of the big game on Sunday, with local and state leaders reminding Americans that despite the hopeful signs of a decline in the number of new cases and hospitalizations, it is not time to put their guards in the stitch too late.
Calls grow for US to rely on quick tests to fight pandemic
While President Joe Biden promises to get younger students back in the classroom by spring, some experts want the U.S. to focus its COVID-19 testing system less on medical precision than on mass screening, which they say could save hundreds of thousands of lives.
As vaccinations increase slowly, they say, after millions of faster tests that are cheaper and faster, but technically less accurate than the predominant genetic tests, they can improve the chances of identifying sick people during the early days of infection, when they most is contagious.
The case for rapid testing on a large scale is getting a boost from universities and school systems that have taken the approach of staying open through the latest waves of the pandemic.
AstraZeneca vaccine adapted to fight the S. Africa variant
Developers of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine expect to have a modified sting by autumn to deal with the South African coronavirus variant, the vaccine researcher said on Sunday.
Health officials in Britain are trying to limit the spread of the variant first identified in South Africa amid concerns that it is more contagious or resistant to existing vaccines. More than 100 cases of the South African variant have been found in the United Kingdom
Sarah Gilbert, lead researcher for the Oxford team, told the BBC on Sunday that “we have a version with the South African peak order in the works.”
Pregnant mother survives COVID, maternity hospital at Staten Island Hospital
A young woman was in an ICU on Staten Island last fall to fight for her life, but now she is back after giving birth to a baby boy.
Poor countries are not willing to wait, and seek their own vaccinations
Some poorer countries get tired of waiting to get vaccinated through a United Nations program, and so they strike out themselves.
Countries, including Honduras, Serbia and Mexico, have cut their own private deals. Experts are increasingly concerned that these target attempts could undermine a United Nations-backed program to undermine COVID-19 shots to the most needy people worldwide.
Police presence increases in France amid pandemic
Police in France are stepping up patrols to punish people caught by the coronavirus-related curfew. Officers patrolled the streets of Paris on Friday night and made surprise visits to businesses that remained open after the 6pm curfew and broke up the rallies. Businesses that violate the curfew run the chance to close two weeks for a first violation, and up to a month for repeated violations. Police officers say they are no longer tolerant of offenders because virus infection levels are too high.
COVID vaccination sites in New York and New Jersey closed due to snow
COVID-19 test and vaccination sites in New York and New Jersey suspended operations Sunday due to the winter storm.
Vaccination Tips for the Elderly
The competition to simply get a vaccine appointment is called COVID’s version of ‘The Hunger Games’, leaving the most vulnerable group (65 and older) with the biggest disadvantage. But Nina Pineda of 7 On Your Side has some tips for leveling the playing field of the pandemic.
Top 7 COVID Vaccine Questions Answered
You have had questions about COVID-19 vaccines and 7 on your side are getting answers from doctors ahead of the pandemic.
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