Covid-19 news: Seven coronavirus variants identified in the US

By Michael Le Page
, Clare Wilson
, Jessica Hamzelou
, Sam Wong
, Graham Lawton
, Adam Vaughan
, Conrad Quilty-Harper
and Layal Liverpool

Latest coronavirus information as of 5pm on 15 February

Coronavirus variants carrying related mutations detected within the US 

Seven coronavirus variants carrying related mutations have been detected within the US. All the variants, reported in a preliminary examine, have gained a mutation on the similar location of their genome and seem to belong to the identical lineage as a virus first sequenced on 1 December, which subsequently turned extra frequent. “There’s clearly something going on with this mutation,” Jeremy Kamil at Louisiana State University and co-author of the examine, advised the New York Times. It isn’t clear if the mutation makes the variants extra transmissible, just like the B.1.1.7 coronavirus variant first sequenced within the UK, however its location in a gene that influences how the virus enters human cells is regarding. “I think there’s a clear signature of an evolutionary benefit,” mentioned Kamil. The preliminary examine was launched on a pre-print server and has not been peer-reviewed.

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Other coronavirus information

UK well being minister Matt Hancock revealed that a 3rd of social care staff in England haven’t had a covid-19 vaccine but, regardless of being among the many first precedence teams. “We’ll keep offering and keep contacting people who work in social care,” Hancock advised the BBC’s Breakfast present. “Obviously the uptake there is very important,” he mentioned. Separately, a preliminary examine discovered decrease covid-19 vaccine uptake amongst Black, Asian and minority ethnic employees on the University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust in England. “These findings give significant cause for concern, as ethnic minority groups (especially those working in healthcare) are at higher risk of infection with [the coronavirus] and adverse outcome from covid-19,” mentioned the report, which has not been peer-reviewed. More than 15 million individuals have acquired a dose of covid-19 vaccine within the UK to this point, in step with the federal government’s goal of providing a primary dose of vaccine to 4 precedence teams by mid-February.

“We’ll do everything we can” to reopen colleges in England by 8 March, UK prime minister Boris Johnson has mentioned, including: “But we’ve got to keep looking at the data, we’ve got to keep looking at the rates of infection, don’t forget they’re still very high.” The UK authorities is anticipated to set out plans for ending restrictions at a briefing on 22 February. Johnson mentioned the federal government’s plans shall be “cautious but irreversible”.

The first travellers required to remain at quarantine lodges in England arrived at London’s Heathrow airport on 15 February. People arriving within the UK from 33 “red list” international locations at the moment are required to enter necessary lodge quarantine for 10 days on arrival, at their very own expense.

Coronavirus deaths

The worldwide covid-19 demise toll has handed 2.4 million. The variety of confirmed circumstances is greater than 108 million, in accordance with Johns Hopkins University, although the true variety of circumstances shall be a lot increased.

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The New York Times is monitoring hospital mattress occupancy in England in an interactive graphic.

Panorama: The Race for a Vaccine is a BBC documentary in regards to the inside story of the event of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine towards covid-19.

Race Against the Virus: Hunt for a Vaccine is a Channel 4 documentary which tells the story of the coronavirus pandemic by way of the eyes of the scientists on the frontline.

The New York Times is assessing the progress of various vaccine candidates and potential drug therapies for covid-19, and rating them for effectiveness and security.

Humans of COVID-19 is a venture highlighting the experiences of key staff on the frontline within the combat towards coronavirus within the UK, by way of social media.

Belly Mujinga: Searching for the Truth is a BBC Panorama investigation of the demise of transport employee Belly Mujinga from covid-19, following reviews she had been coughed and spat on by a buyer at London’s Victoria Station.

Coronavirus, Explained on Netflix is a brief documentary sequence inspecting the on-going coronavirus pandemic, the efforts to combat it and methods to handle its psychological well being toll.

New Scientist Weekly options updates and evaluation on the most recent developments within the covid-19 pandemic. Our podcast sees skilled journalists from the journal talk about the most important science tales to hit the headlines every week – from expertise and house, to well being and the atmosphere.

COVID-19: The Pandemic that Never Should Have Happened, and How to Stop the Next One by Debora Mackenzie is about how the pandemic occurred and why it’s going to occur once more if we don’t do issues in a different way in future.

The Rules of Contagion is in regards to the new science of contagion and the shocking methods it shapes our lives and behavior. The creator, Adam Kucharski, is an epidemiologist on the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK, and within the ebook he examines how illnesses unfold and why they cease.

Previous updates

12 February

Vaccinations of individuals below 70 start in England subsequent week

Vaccinators in England can now begin giving covid-19 vaccines to individuals aged between 65 and 69, so long as they’ve already provided jabs to older and clinically weak individuals within the high precedence teams. “We have been told by NHS England that, in exceptional circumstances, where we have reached other groups, we can move on to cohort five [people aged 65 to 69],” an nameless physician advised the Guardian. Across the UK, 14 million individuals had acquired a primary dose of covid-19 vaccine as of 12 February – equal to about 20 per cent of the entire inhabitants.

Infections fall throughout the UK

Coronavirus infections seem like falling throughout the UK. The Office for National Statistics estimates that about one in 80 individuals in England had covid-19 within the week as much as 6 February, down from one in 65 individuals the earlier week. In Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland the equal figures for the newest week are roughly one in 85, one in 75 and one in 150 individuals respectively, all down from the earlier week’s figures. The newest official estimate of the R quantity – the common variety of individuals every individual with coronavirus infects – places it between 0.7 and 0.9  for the UK as an entire, indicating the nation’s epidemic is shrinking. 

Neil Ferguson at Imperial College London, who advises the UK authorities as a part of the New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group, mentioned lockdowns have helped drive down circumstances. “They’re basically halving about every 17 days at the moment,” he advised Politico’s Westminster Insider podcast. Ferguson mentioned it is perhaps doable to reopen at the very least major colleges in a month’s time. “And if we continue to see then a continued decline without large outbreaks, then perhaps starting to relax other aspects of society the following month,” he added. UK prime minister Boris Johnson has mentioned discussions on reopening colleges will occur within the week beginning 22 February, with colleges probably in a position to reopen from 8 March.

Other coronavirus information

Germany is imposing strict new border controls as a result of concern over coronavirus variants, with a ban on journey into the nation from the Czech Republic and Austria the place the B.1351 and B.1.1.7 variants of the virus have been discovered to be prevalent. Returning residents and sure important staff shall be exempt. 

French well being authority Haute Autorite de Sante really useful that individuals who have already had covid-19 and recovered ought to solely be provided a single shot of covid-19 vaccine. “The single dose of vaccine will act as a reminder,” it mentioned in a press release.

Coronavirus deaths

The worldwide covid-19 demise toll has handed 2.37 million. The variety of confirmed circumstances is greater than 107 million, in accordance with Johns Hopkins University, although the true variety of circumstances shall be a lot increased.

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11 February

Roche’s arthritis drug tocilizumab discovered to chop threat of demise amongst sufferers with extreme covid-19

The arthritis drug tocilizumab reduces the danger of demise amongst severely in poor health covid-19 sufferers, in accordance with findings from the RECOVERY trial, which has been testing a spread of potential therapies for the illness since March final yr. The examine discovered that 29 per cent of covid-19 sufferers who acquired tocilizumab died inside 28 days, in comparison with 33 per cent of those that didn’t obtain the drug. Treatment with tocilizumab – offered below the model identify Actemra by Swiss firm Roche – additionally shortened the time to restoration and decreased the requirement for mechanical air flow. The trial included 2022 covid-19 sufferers randomly allotted to obtain tocilizumab along with their customary care and 2094 sufferers allotted to straightforward care solely, which for 82 per cent of all sufferers within the examine included therapy with a steroid, equivalent to dexamethasone. Last yr, dexamethasone turned the first drug discovered to scale back demise charges in covid-19 sufferers. The most up-to-date outcomes point out that tocilizumab offers further advantages when used with steroids, like dexamethasone. “Used in combination, the impact is substantial,” mentioned Martin Landray on the University of Oxford, one of many lead investigators on the trial. “After dexamethasone (steroids), this is the most significant advance in the treatment of covid,” mentioned Athimalaipet Ramanan on the University of Bristol in a assertion.

Other coronavirus information

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued up to date steering saying individuals who have been “fully vaccinated” towards covid-19 are now not suggested to quarantine if they’re uncovered to somebody who checks optimistic for coronavirus. This applies to individuals who have had each doses of a covid-19 vaccine at the very least two weeks in the past. However, the CDC mentioned this doesn’t imply that totally vaccinated people ought to cease taking precautions and added that individuals who had their pictures three months in the past or extra ought to nonetheless quarantine if they’re uncovered, because it isn’t recognized how lengthy safety towards covid-19 lasts.

US well being officers are advising individuals within the nation to think about sporting two masks on high of one another to raised shield themselves towards coronavirus an infection. A CDC report recommended sporting a fabric masks over a disposable surgical masks or bettering the match of a single surgical masks as methods to spice up safety.

It might take six to 9 months to supply and deploy covid-19 vaccines that work towards new variants of the coronavirus, in accordance with AstraZeneca. The UK-Swedish firm made this assertion after its present vaccine was discovered to be much less efficient towards the coronavirus variant first recognized in South Africa.

The Guardian reported that greater than 40 per cent of employees on the UK’s largest care house supplier haven’t acquired any doses of covid-19 vaccine.

Coronavirus deaths

The worldwide covid-19 demise toll has handed 2.35 million. The variety of confirmed circumstances is greater than 107 million, in accordance with Johns Hopkins University, although the true variety of circumstances shall be a lot increased.

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10 February

Chills, lack of urge for food, headache and muscle ache linked to covid-19 in new examine

New signs have been linked to covid-19 in sure age teams, together with chills, lack of urge for food, headache and muscle ache, in Imperial College London’s REACT examine. The 4 new signs have been recognized by researchers by way of random swab testing and questioning of greater than one million individuals in England, carried out between June 2020 and January 2021. The researchers discovered an affiliation between testing optimistic for the coronavirus and reporting any of those new signs or different signs beforehand linked to covid-19, equivalent to a persistent cough, fever or a loss or change in sense of style or odor. 

The extra signs individuals had, the extra doubtless they have been to check optimistic, though there was some variation in signs throughout totally different age teams. Chills have been linked with an infection throughout all age teams, whereas complications have been reported primarily in kids aged 5-17, urge for food loss in adults over 18 and muscle aches in these aged 18-54. Infected 5-17 yr olds have been additionally much less more likely to report experiencing fever, persistent cough and urge for food loss, compared with adults.

The REACT examine additionally checked out whether or not reported signs modified earlier than and after the B.1.1.7 variant turned the dominant variant within the UK. It discovered that signs have been largely related, regardless of the elevated prevalence of B.1.1.7. However, loss or change of sense of odor was much less predictive of getting covid-19 in January when B.1.1.7 accounted for about 86 per cent of infections, in contrast with November to December when it was 16 per cent. “As the epidemic progresses and new variants emerge, it’s essential that we keep monitoring how the virus affects people so that testing programmes meet changing needs,” mentioned Joshua Elliott, one of many researchers behind the examine at Imperial College London, in a press release.

Other coronavirus information

People within the UK are going to must “get used to the idea of vaccinating and revaccinating in the autumn as we face these new variants”, UK prime minister Boris Johnson advised parliament on 10 February. Several vaccine producers have confirmed that they’re already engaged on new variations of their covid-19 vaccines to verify they continue to be efficient. The UK authorities lately introduced a partnership with producer CureVac to quickly manufacture new vaccines in response to new coronavirus variants if wanted. “We believe that they may help us to develop vaccines that can respond at scale to new variants of the virus,” mentioned Johnson.

England’s deputy chief medical officer Jonathan Van-Tam mentioned he doesn’t assume the B.1351 coronavirus variant first recognized in South Africa “is going to be a dominant issue in the next few months”. Speaking on BBC News, Van-Tam mentioned 90 per cent of circumstances within the UK in the meanwhile are brought on by the B.1.1.7 variant, first detected in Kent.

South Africa is contemplating promoting or exchanging its doses of the Oxford/AstraZeneca covid-19 vaccine, in accordance with the nation’s well being minister. Plans to begin administering the jabs have been placed on maintain this week after a small, preliminary examine indicated it might not shield towards delicate or reasonable covid-19 brought on by the B.1.351 variant.

Coronavirus deaths

The worldwide covid-19 demise toll has handed 2.34 million. The variety of confirmed circumstances is greater than 107 million, in accordance with Johns Hopkins University, although the true variety of circumstances shall be a lot increased.

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9 February

WHO workforce in China is investigating principle that coronavirus was unfold by way of frozen meals

The World Health Organization (WHO) mission in Wuhan, China has dominated out the likelihood that the coronavirus originated in a laboratory, however the workforce is investigating whether or not the virus got here from frozen meals, probably from outdoors China. The investigation workforce chief Peter Ben Embarek mentioned the virus appears to have originated in bats, as initially thought, however it was most likely transmitted to people through an unknown intermediate species, probably a useless or frozen animal meals product. Embarek mentioned it’s “extremely unlikely” that the virus escaped from a lab. The WHO mission arrived in China in January and spent 4 weeks researching the origin of the coronavirus with website visits to the Huanan seafood market, initially suspected because the supply of the virus, in addition to the laboratories on the Wuhan Institute of Virology, which was additionally being investigated as a possible supply. It introduced its preliminary findings at a press briefing in Wuhan on 9 February. 

Other coronavirus information

People arriving in England who’re required to quarantine in lodges shall be charged a price of £1750 to cowl the price of their keep, transport and coronavirus checks, UK well being minister Matt Hancock introduced. People who fail to quarantine face fines of as much as £10,000, whereas those that lie on their passenger locator varieties about visiting any of 33 “red list” international locations withstand 10 years in jail. Hancock mentioned related measures are being checked out for the devolved nations. “People who flout these rules are putting us all at risk,” he advised parliament on Tuesday. He additionally confirmed that an enhanced testing regime for all arrivals would begin on 15 February, from which level all arrivals shall be required to get examined for the coronavirus on the second and eighth days of their 10-day quarantine interval.

Extra covid-19 testing will start in elements of Greater Manchester within the UK, following the invention of 4 individuals contaminated with a mutated model of the B.1.1.7 variant, first recognized in Kent. The 4 individuals, from two separate households in Greater Manchester, have been discovered to be contaminated with a virus carrying the E484K mutation. The mutation is regarding, as there’s proof that some covid-19 vaccines could also be much less efficient towards the B.1.351 variant, often known as the “South Africa variant”, which has the identical mutation.  

The NHS covid-19 app has advised 1.7 million individuals in England and Wales to self-isolate since its launch in September. A preliminary evaluation by researchers on the University of Oxford and the Alan Turing Institute signifies 594,000 coronavirus circumstances have been prevented by the app. The app has had about 21.7 million downloads, though inner information suggests about 16.5 million persons are at the moment actively utilizing its contact-tracing instrument, in accordance with the BBC.

Coronavirus deaths

The worldwide covid-19 demise toll has handed 2.32 million. The variety of confirmed circumstances is greater than 106 million, in accordance with Johns Hopkins University, although the true variety of circumstances shall be a lot increased.

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8 February

Researchers are investigating methods to switch covid-19 vaccines to deal with the South Africa variant and others that emerge

UK ministers say work is underway to tweak current covid-19 vaccines to deal with new variants of the coronavirus together with the B.1.351 coronavirus variant, generally known as the “South Africa variant”. On 6 February, a small, preliminary examine was reported to indicate that the Oxford/AstraZeneca covid-19 vaccine might not shield towards delicate or reasonable covid-19 brought on by B.1.351. At least 147 circumstances of this variant have now been detected within the UK. “Our brilliant scientists and medical advisers are now working on the potential for new versions of existing vaccines to offer further protections against covid variants,” Nadhim Zahawi, minister for covid-19 vaccine deployment, wrote within the Telegraph. As a precaution, South Africa – the place the variant accounts for about 90 per cent of latest coronavirus circumstances – has put its rollout of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine on maintain. However, the examine, which has not but been revealed or peer-reviewed, was comparatively small and didn’t take a look at the affect of the vaccine on extreme illness or demise.

Sarah Gilbert on the University of Oxford, one of many lead vaccine researchers on the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, mentioned a modified model that’s efficient towards the South Africa variant could possibly be able to deploy within the autumn. “What we’re seeing from other vaccine developers is that they have a reduction in efficacy against some of the variant viruses,” Gilbert advised the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show on 7 February, including that though vaccines could also be much less efficient at lowering circumstances with new variants, they nonetheless seem like protecting towards demise, hospitalisation and extreme illness. Other covid-19 vaccine producers are additionally engaged on new variations of their vaccines to verify they continue to be efficient. “We’re very confident in all the vaccines that we are using, and I think it’s important for people to bear in mind that all of them, we think, are effective in delivering a high degree of protection against serious illness and death, which is the most important thing,” mentioned UK prime minister Boris Johnson, in an interview with Sky News on 8 February. “We will be continuing to study the results, the effectiveness, of the vaccine rollout.”

Other coronavirus information

All individuals residing within the UK shall be eligible to obtain a covid-19 vaccine no matter whether or not they have the authorized proper to work and dwell within the nation, the UK authorities mentioned on 8 February. “Coronavirus vaccines will be offered to everyone living in the UK free of charge, regardless of immigration status,” a authorities spokesperson advised Reuters. The authorities mentioned getting the vaccine wouldn’t set off immigration checks.

Ireland mentioned it’s going to crack down on travellers returning to the UK from the Middle East through Ireland to keep away from lately launched quarantine guidelines. The variety of individuals travelling to Dublin from Dubai has risen for the reason that UK added the United Arab Emirates to its journey ban record in January.

Coronavirus deaths

The worldwide covid-19 demise toll has handed 2.31 million. The variety of confirmed circumstances is greater than 106 million, in accordance with Johns Hopkins University, although the true variety of circumstances shall be a lot increased.

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5 February

Early outcomes recommend the Oxford covid-19 vaccine works towards B.1.1.7 virus variant

Preliminary outcomes point out that the covid-19 vaccine developed by the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca is efficient towards the extremely transmissible coronavirus variant B.1.1.7, which was first detected within the UK. Researchers on the University of Oxford analysed swabs from vaccine trial contributors who had examined optimistic for the coronavirus between 1 October 2020 and 14 January 2021, to find out the variant of the virus with which they’d been contaminated. They discovered related efficacy charges of the vaccine towards the B.1.1.7 variant (74.6 per cent efficient) and the unique virus (84 per cent efficient). This is even supposing these contaminated with the B.1.1.7 variant produced fewer antibodies that might neutralise the virus. The outcomes have been launched on-line as a pre-print and haven’t been peer-reviewed.

Vaccine researchers are investigating methods to switch current covid-19 vaccines quickly to make sure continued safety towards different new variants as nicely. “We are working with AstraZeneca to optimise the pipeline required for a strain change should one become necessary,” mentioned Sarah Gilbert on the University of Oxford in a assertion. “This is the same issue that is faced by all of the vaccine developers, and we will continue to monitor the emergence of new variants that arise in readiness for a future strain change,” she mentioned. “All viruses accumulate mutations over time, and for influenza vaccines there is a well-known process of global viral surveillance, and selection of strains for an annual update of the vaccines.”

Other coronavirus information

Coronavirus circumstances seem like falling in a lot of the UK. The most up-to-date outcomes from a random swab testing survey by the Office for National Statistics point out optimistic checks have been falling in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland within the week as much as 30 January. New infections throughout the UK as an entire are estimated to be falling by between 2 and 5 per cent every day, and the most recent official estimate for the UK’s R quantity – the common variety of individuals every coronavirus case infects – places it between 0.7 and 1.0. This is almost definitely to signify the scenario two to a few weeks in the past, as a result of a time lag within the information. The UK authorities mentioned it goals for all individuals aged 50 and above to have been provided a covid-19 vaccine by May, clarifying earlier feedback by a spokesperson for UK prime minister Boris Johnson who on 4 February mentioned the federal government’s goal was “spring”.

Johnson & Johnson utilized for an emergency use authorisation from the US Food and Drug Administration for its covid-19 vaccine. The firm introduced final week that the single-dose vaccine had an efficacy of about 66 per cent in part III trials. If accepted, it will develop into the third covid-19 vaccine authorised for emergency use within the US, after these developed by Pfizer and its associate BioNTech and by Moderna.

Israel introduced it will ease lockdown restrictions from 7 am native time on 7 February however will maintain its borders closed, after a slight discount in coronavirus circumstances. Almost 80 per cent of individuals over 50 in Israel have acquired a covid-19 vaccine to this point. The nation is vaccinating its 9 million residents at the next charge than another nation.

Coronavirus deaths

The worldwide covid-19 demise toll has handed 2.28 million. The variety of confirmed circumstances is greater than 105 million, in accordance with Johns Hopkins University, although the true variety of circumstances shall be a lot increased.

4 February

UK plans to check impact of giving one dose every of the Pfizer and Astrazeneca covid-19 vaccines

A UK trial is aiming to analyze the affect of giving individuals two totally different covid-19 vaccines for his or her first and second doses. Being in a position to make use of both vaccine will create extra flexibility within the supply of doses, and assist cope with disruption in provides, mentioned England’s deputy chief medical officer Jonathan Van-Tam. He mentioned combining two totally different vaccines on this approach might additionally increase immune responses, probably main to raised safety towards covid-19. The trial, which is being led by researchers on the University of Oxford and funded by the UK authorities’s vaccine taskforce, will recruit 820 volunteers over the age of fifty who haven’t but acquired a covid-19 vaccine. Participants will then obtain a primary dose of both the vaccine developed by the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca or the vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech. Some of them will get the identical vaccine once more for his or her second dose 4 or 12 weeks later and others will get a second dose of the opposite vaccine, to check the impact of mixing the 2 pictures and of various time intervals between doses. 

UK vaccines minister Nadhim Zahawi mentioned the nation is on observe to fulfill its goal of vaccinating all individuals within the 4 precedence teams towards covid-19 by 15 February. He advised parliament it has been “an incredible effort” that has “drawn on the hard work of so many”. Last month, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson mentioned the UK authorities goals to have given a primary dose of covid-19 vaccine to all these over 70, probably the most clinically weak individuals and frontline well being and social care staff by 15 February – equal to about 15 million individuals. Across the UK, greater than 10.4 million individuals had acquired a primary dose of covid-19 vaccine as of 4 February.

Other coronavirus information

International journey was related to elevated demise charges within the worst-affected international locations through the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic, in accordance with a examine revealed within the scientific journal BMJ Open. Tiberiu Pana on the University of Aberdeen, UK, and colleagues analysed the connection between country-level elements – equivalent to worldwide arrivals, inhabitants density and well being indicators – and the common enhance in each day deaths recorded in early 2020 throughout the 37 international locations with the very best demise charges from covid-19. They discovered that the most important enhance in demise charges was related to worldwide arrivals. An enhance of one million worldwide arrivals was related to a 3.4 per cent rise within the common each day enhance in covid-19 deaths.

A World Health Organization scientist has mentioned society is unlikely to return to “normal” till 2022. “I think we are going to be well into next year before we see a change – that change is likely to be caused by high coverage of the vaccines,” mentioned Helen Rees, who sits on the WHO’s committee for covid-19. “I think this new normal we all talk about is with us for a very long time,” Rees advised BBC Wales Live.

Coronavirus deaths

The worldwide covid-19 demise toll has handed 2.27 million. The variety of confirmed circumstances is greater than 104 million, in accordance with Johns Hopkins University, although the true variety of circumstances shall be a lot increased.

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3 February

Covid-19 vaccine towards new variants could possibly be deployed quickly, says Oxford vaccine researcher

A model of the covid-19 vaccine developed by the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca that may deal with the brand new, extremely transmissible coronavirus variants could possibly be able to deploy in about 7 months within the UK, in accordance with a researcher on the Oxford vaccine workforce. “The actual work on designing a new vaccine is very, very quick because it’s essentially just switching out the genetic sequence for the spike protein,” Andrew Pollard on the University of Oxford advised the BBC. “And then there’s manufacturing to do and then a small scale study. So all of that can be completed in a very short period of time, and the autumn is really the timing for having new vaccines available for use,” he mentioned. Pollard mentioned work is already underway to replace the vaccine and enhance its efficacy towards lately recognized coronavirus mutations, equivalent to these within the variants first sequenced within the UK and South Africa.

Preliminary outcomes recommend that the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine might scale back coronavirus transmission, along with lowering symptomatic covid-19 and extreme sickness. UK well being minister Matt Hancock praised the findings of the examine led by researchers on the University of Oxford. The outcomes point out that two doses of the jab scale back coronavirus an infection with or with out signs by 67 per cent. They additionally recommend {that a} single dose of the vaccine is 76 per cent efficient at stopping symptomatic covid-19 for 3 months, with this determine growing to 82 per cent after two doses. Hancock described the outcomes as “absolutely superb” and mentioned they present that “vaccines are the way out of this pandemic”.

Other coronavirus information

A cell coronavirus testing unit has been arrange within the city of Southport in England to check residents for the coronavirus and determine if they’ve the variant first recognized in South Africa. Firefighters and council employees are additionally delivering 10,000 house testing kits to individuals residing within the space.

Denmark introduced plans to introduce a digital “Corona-Pass”, which might enable Danish residents to show they’ve been vaccinated towards covid-19 for the needs of enterprise and leisure journey, in accordance with the nation’s finance ministry.

Israel will begin increasing its covid-19 vaccination programme to everybody over the age of 16, in accordance with its well being ministry.

Coronavirus deaths

The worldwide covid-19 demise toll has handed 2.25 million. The variety of confirmed circumstances is greater than 104 million, in accordance with Johns Hopkins University, although the true variety of circumstances shall be a lot increased.

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2 February

UK science advisers really useful introduction of journey restrictions two weeks in the past

The UK’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) suggested the federal government to introduce necessary lodge quarantine for travellers arriving into the UK two weeks in the past, in accordance with minutes from a gathering on 21 January that have been leaked to the Times. On Thursday 21 January, SAGE reportedly warned that “reactive, geographically targeted” journey bans couldn’t be relied on to forestall faster-spreading coronavirus variants, equivalent to these recognized in South Africa and Brazil, from reaching the UK, including that: “no intervention, other than a complete, pre-emptive closure of borders, or the mandatory quarantine of all visitors upon arrival in designated facilities, irrespective of testing history, can get close to fully preventing the importation of new cases or new variants.” 

A Downing Street spokesperson mentioned SAGE didn’t straight advise UK prime minister Boris Johnson to shut borders. Universities minister Michelle Donelan advised Sky News that the federal government “always based our decisions on the best medical and scientific advice” and mentioned “the SAGE advice actually said it would probably be ineffective, in fact, to close the borders, which was the same advice that we got at the time from the World Health Organization”. Johnson introduced geographically focused lodge quarantine measures for travellers getting back from 30 international locations, together with Brazil and South Africa, final week.

UK well being minister Matt Hancock urged individuals residing in postcodes in England singled out for enhanced coronavirus testing for the so-called South Africa variant to keep at house except “absolutely essential”. Urgent door-to-door testing for the faster-spreading variant has been deployed after 11 circumstances with no hyperlink to overseas journey have been recognized in elements of England.

Other coronavirus information

Interim outcomes from part III trials recommend Russia’s covid-19 vaccine is 91.6 per cent efficient, and information on the vaccine is being submitted to the European Medicines Agency, in accordance with Kirill Dmitriev, director of the Russian Direct Investment Fund. The outcomes, primarily based on a part III trial together with 21,977 adults, three-quarters of whom acquired the Sputnik V vaccine, are revealed in scientific journal the Lancet. Other contributors acquired a placebo. 

Sweden introduced it will not suggest the covid-19 vaccine developed by the University of Oxford in partnership with AstraZeneca for individuals aged over 65, hours after Poland mentioned it will not supply the vaccine to over 60s. Last week, medical consultants in Germany and Austria made related suggestions, citing an absence of knowledge on this age group. The European Medicines Agency authorised the vaccine to be used in all grownup age teams throughout the European Union and June Raine, chief govt of the UK Medicines and Healthcare merchandise Regulatory Agency, final week mentioned: “Current evidence does not suggest any lack of protection against covid-19 in people aged 65 or over. The data we have shows that the vaccine produces a strong immune response in the over-65s.”

Coronavirus deaths

The worldwide covid-19 demise toll has handed 2.24 million. The variety of confirmed circumstances is greater than 103 million, in accordance with Johns Hopkins University, although the true variety of circumstances shall be a lot increased.

Latest on coronavirus from New Scientist

Faster-spreading variants: The faster-spreading UK coronavirus variant has acquired a mutation that may assist it evade immune safety – the identical mutation already discovered within the South African variant.

Article amended on 4 February 2021

We corrected June Raine’s identify.

1 February

All adults in elements of England to be examined for South Africa variant after 11 new circumstances recognized

Door-to-door testing for the so-called South Africa coronavirus variant will start in elements of England this week, after 11 circumstances with no recognized hyperlinks to journey or to earlier circumstances have been recognized in eight areas of the nation. Urgent testing of adults, no matter signs, will happen in some postcodes in Hertfordshire, Surrey, Kent, Walsall, Sefton and within the London boroughs of Merton, Haringey and Ealing. “We are trying to contain this so it does not spread,” Susan Hopkins, senior medical adviser at Public Health England advised the BBC. Any newly recognized infections shall be analysed to see if they’re brought on by the extremely transmissible coronavirus variant first sequenced in South Africa. 

UK well being minister Matt Hancock “has ordered an attempt at eradication of the new variant if at all possible”, with public well being officers beginning to go door-to-door in affected areas this week, in accordance with a briefing seen by the Guardian. “This is a precautionary measure,” mentioned Ruth Hutchinson, director of public well being for Surrey, in a press release. “The more cases of the variant we find, the better chance we have at stopping it from spreading further,” mentioned Hutchinson, including: “It’s really important to say that there is currently no evidence that this variant causes more severe illness, so you don’t need to worry.”

Other coronavirus information

A covid-19 vaccine has now been provided to older residents at each eligible care house in England, the NHS introduced, however vaccination charges of care house employees are lagging behind residents. Fiona Carragher, director of analysis and influencing at Alzheimer’s Society advised the BBC she remained involved that the vaccination rollout for care house employees “has not been nearly so effective”. In January, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson mentioned the UK authorities goals to vaccinate all these over 70, probably the most clinically weak individuals and frontline well being and social care staff by 15 February – equal to about 15 million vaccinations. Across the UK, greater than 8.9 million individuals had acquired a primary dose of covid-19 vaccine as of 30 January.

The European Union mentioned AstraZeneca has agreed to provide it with 9 million further doses of its covid-19 vaccine, developed in partnership with the University of Oxford. This brings the entire variety of anticipated doses for the primary quarter of this yr to 40 million, which is about half of what the EU was initially anticipating. European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen tweeted saying the corporate would develop its manufacturing capability in Europe, and begin delivering doses per week sooner than scheduled.

Germany’s well being minister Jens Spahn hinted that covid-19 vaccines from China and Russia could possibly be utilized in Europe to compensate for the shortfall of doses provided by Pfizer and its associate BioNTech, and by Oxford/AstraZeneca. “Regardless of the country in which a vaccine is manufactured, if they are safe and effective, they can help cope with the pandemic,” Spahn advised German media on Sunday, including that any vaccine will first should be accepted by the European Medicines Agency.

Coronavirus deaths

The worldwide covid-19 demise toll has handed 2.23 million. The variety of confirmed circumstances is greater than 103 million, in accordance with Johns Hopkins University, although the true variety of circumstances shall be a lot increased.

Latest on coronavirus from New Scientist

Can vaccines cease transmission?: Several research recommend that coronavirus vaccines can considerably scale back transmission of the virus, however not halt it fully – so social distancing remains to be mandatory.

29 January

Vaccines from Johnson & Johnson and Novavax report optimistic trial outcomes

A coronavirus vaccine developed by the US agency Novavax has been proven to be 89 per cent efficient in stopping covid-19 in scientific trials. The trials included contributors within the UK and South Africa, and located the vaccine to be 86 per cent efficient towards the UK variant of the virus, however solely 60 per cent efficient towards the variant in South Africa. Novavax mentioned it’s going to instantly start growth on a vaccine particularly focused to the South African variant.

Janssen, a subsidiary of US agency Johnson & Johnson, introduced that its covid-19 vaccine confirmed 66 per cent efficacy in a world trial. These outcomes are primarily based on a single dose of the vaccine, which makes it simpler to manage than the two-shot vaccines which have already been accepted. The firm has mentioned it’s going to promote its vaccine on a not-for-profit foundation.

The UK has already ordered 30 million doses of the Janssen vaccine and the European Union has ordered 400 million. The UK has additionally ordered 60 million doses of the Novavax jab.

Other coronavirus information

The European Medicines Agency has really useful the approval of the Oxford/AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine for all adults, which can enable mass use of the vaccine within the European Union. Yesterday, a German committee really useful towards approving the vaccine for individuals over 65 due to inadequate information within the trials, however the EMA’s consultants mentioned safety could possibly be anticipated on this group and there’s dependable data on security. The vaccine is already the topic of a dispute between AstraZeneca and the EU over the agency’s resolution to provide fewer doses to the EU this yr than initially agreed. Today, the European Commission revealed elements of its contract with AstraZeneca, which it says obliges the corporate to provide the agreed volumes. The drug-maker says the contract solely obliges it to make its “best effort” to fulfill the EU demand, to not keep on with a particular timetable. The EU additionally introduced export restrictions on vaccines made throughout the bloc in response to the deliberate reduce in deliveries. 

The coronavirus variant from South Africa – which is extra infectiousness  than the unique variant – has been detected within the US for the primary time, with two circumstances confirmed in South Carolina. 

The New York state authorities has launched new figures displaying that it undercounted deaths from covid-19 in nursing house residents by greater than 3800. The state’s total demise toll has not elevated, however the increased tally in nursing houses has fuelled criticism that governor Andrew Cuomo didn’t do sufficient to guard these residents.

In the UK, covid-19 hospital admissions fell to 33.51 per 100,000 individuals from a charge of 35.64 within the week ending 24 January, figures from the Office for National Statistics present. One in 55 individuals in non-public households in England examined optimistic for covid-19 between 17 and 23 January, which is analogous to the earlier week. The an infection charge was roughly one in 70 in Wales, one in 50 in Northern Ireland and one in 110 in Scotland. The R quantity for the UK is between 0.7 and 1.1, in accordance with the newest estimate by the federal government’s scientific advisory group. The R quantity is the variety of individuals every individual with covid-19 will go on to contaminate.

Latest on coronavirus from New Scientist

Global vaccine distribution: While mass immunisation programmes are making speedy progress in wealthy nations, many middle-income international locations have solely simply begun roll-outs and most low-income ones will take months to get began. These delays enhance the danger of mutations resulting in variants which can be extra transmissible,and will render vaccines much less efficient in future.

Coronavirus deaths

The worldwide covid-19 demise toll has handed 2.19 million. The variety of confirmed circumstances is greater than 101 million, in accordance with Johns Hopkins University, although the true variety of circumstances shall be a lot increased.

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