US NIH monitoring UK Covid-19 variant but South African one âmore concerningâ
By Reuters
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Washington - The United States is closely watching the more infectious variant of Covid-19 after British officials warned that it may also be more deadly, US National Institutes of Health Director Francis Collins said on Saturday.
But US health officials are somewhat more worried about a separate variant from South Africa, although that one has not yet been identified among US cases of the novel coronavirus, he told MSNBC in an interview.
Collins noted the UK s data was preliminary, and said it was unclear why those with the UK variant faced a higher risk of death, whether by changes in the virus itself or other external causes such as pressures on the healthcare system.
MADRID Spain’s top military commander has been forced to resign after he and other high-ranking officers violated established protocols and received the COVID-19 vaccine ahead of time.
Spain’s defense ministry confirmed to The Associated Press on Saturday that Minister Margarita Robles had accepted the resignation of Chief of Staff Gen. Miguel Ángel Villarroya.
His resignation comes after online news site El Confidencial Digital reported that Villarroya and other top brass had broken national protocols for Spain’s vaccination strategy, which currently only allows nursing home residents and medical workers to receive shots. Several public officials have jumped the vaccine queue in recent weeks, including a regional health chief for southeast Murcia, who also resigned.
Health officials say the number of COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations in Arizona are declining despite the state having the worst infection rate in the country.
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