Experts expect vaccines to protect against the UK s fast-spreading Covid strain CNBC 21/12/2020 Elliot Smith
Existing vaccines will be able to fight infection from new Covid variants because emerging strains are likely to be genetically similar to prior ones, said Vin Gupta of the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation.
His comments came after the U.K. on Saturday said it identified a new mutation of the virus that can spread more quickly.
Gupta said the effectiveness of vaccines in producing antibodies to attack and kill Covid-19 is extraordinary, and he doesn t expect minor changes at the genetic level to affect the vaccines performance for now.
Experts expect vaccines to protect against the UK s fast-spreading Covid strain CNBC 21/12/2020 Elliot Smith
Existing vaccines will be able to fight infection from new Covid variants because emerging strains are likely to be genetically similar to prior ones, said Vin Gupta of the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation.
His comments came after the U.K. on Saturday said it identified a new mutation of the virus that can spread more quickly.
Gupta said the effectiveness of vaccines in producing antibodies to attack and kill Covid-19 is extraordinary, and he doesn t expect minor changes at the genetic level to affect the vaccines performance for now.
Also over the weekend, several countries announced plans to shut their borders to Britain as news of a highly contagious new variant of the coronavirus led the British government to backtrack on plans to let families mix over Christmas. The U.K. is locking down London and other areas in southern England where infections by the Covid mutation are heavily concentrated.
The U.S. is recording at least 215,700 new Covid-19 cases and at least 2,600 virus-related deaths each day, based on a seven-day average calculated by CNBC using Johns Hopkins University data.
The following data was compiled by Johns Hopkins University:
Vaccinations move to nursing homes as pandemic rages in California By Carl O Donnell and Richa Naidu
Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccination in in West Hartford, Connecticut
NEW YORK (Reuters) -The U.S. government and two of the nation’s largest pharmacy chains on Monday began inoculating nursing home residents against COVID-19, among the first Americans besides healthcare workers to get the vaccine.
The vaccinations, carried out under a program led by Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc and CVS Health Corp, are the latest effort to rein in a pandemic that has killed more than 317,000 Americans and strained healthcare systems.
California, an epicenter in the latest surge in infections, had no more intensive care unit beds available in the heavily populated Los Angeles area or in the state’s San Joaquin Valley agricultural hub, Governor Gavin Newsom said on Monday.