Covid 19 C&P

A New York variant of the virus has been identifird in N.Y. City, and it contains an alarming mutation that may make it less susceptible to vaccines. From the N.Y. Times.

The New York variant

A new variant of the coronavirus has been identified in New York City, and it contains an alarming mutation that may make it less susceptible to vaccines.

Known as B.1.526, the variant first appeared in samples collected in November, and it has since been spreading rapidly in the city. By the middle of February, it was present in more than one in four samples in the city’s virus database.

Two studies published online this week by researchers at Caltech and Columbia University found that the variant in New York shared characteristics similar to variants discovered in South Africa and Brazil, which have been shown to weaken the effectiveness of vaccines. One study found that patients infected with the variant were about six years older on average and more likely to have been hospitalized.

The studies also found evidence that the South Africa and Brazil variants had been circulating in the city. And the British variant continues to gain steam in New York City, making up 6.2 percent of cases, up from 2.7 percent in late January.

New York City officials said today that the risks posed by the variant were not yet fully understood. The city is not yet making any major changes to its public health response.

While cases in the city have fallen since the holiday surge, they have been declining more slowly compared to the rest of the nation. Even so, Gov. Andrew Cuomo has begun reopening many sectors, including indoor dining, major sports stadiums, movie theaters and wedding venues.

The city so far has vaccinated about one million people. The positivity rate among people over 75 in New York has dropped quickly, and emergency room visits for people over 65 are falling.

But a new paper from the University of Minnesota’s Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy argues that as more contagious variants spread, vaccinations needed to speed up.

The paper notes: “A major peak in cases, hospitalizations, and deaths in the near future remains a strong possibility.”

Pfizer will test a booster shot and develop an adapted vaccine to address variant concerns.

As concerns grow that new coronavirus variants could blunt the protective effects of vaccines, Pfizer and BioNTech said on Thursday that they planned to test a third booster shot as well as update their original vaccine.
Laboratory experiments have found that the levels of antibodies neutralized by the Pfizer-BioNTech shot was reduced against a variant first identified in South Africa, which could hint at reduced efficacy. But there is no evidence yet from clinical trials there suggesting that the vaccine does not offer strong protection.
“We are taking multiple steps to act decisively and be ready in case a strain becomes resistant to the protection afforded by the vaccine,” Dr. Albert Bourla, the chief executive of Pfizer, said in a statement.






Pfizer will test a booster shot and develop an adapted vaccine to address variant concerns. - The New York Times (nytimes.com)

Another major bungle at an aged home.

Pfizer doses tossed out as more coronavirus vaccine bungles emerge (thenewdaily.com.au)

Medical experts cast doubt on an October deadline for Australia's vaccines. Courtesy of The New Daily.

Medical experts cast doubt on Australia's October vaccination deadline (thenewdaily.com.au)

Coronavirus briefing , courtesy of the N.Y. Times. The rise of the new Brazil variant, P1.

The rapid rise of P.1

Three new studies into the coronavirus variant that first arose in Brazil, known as P.1, depict it as an alarming double threat — capable of both spreading more rapidly and evading antibodies.

The new research tracked the variant’s destructive rise in the Amazonian city of Manaus, which was hit particularly hard in the spring, but seemed to have gotten past the worst of the pandemic by April. (Some scientists believed that the city had reached herd immunity.)

But sometime probably around November, P.1 appeared in Manaus, sparking a record-breaking surge in cases. The variant was particularly devastating because of its increased contagiousness; researchers found it to be 1.4 to 2.2 times more transmissible than other lineages of coronaviruses.

More troubling perhaps was the fact that the variant also gained the ability to infect people who had immunity from past Covid-19 infections. Researchers estimated that out of 100 people who were infected with non-P.1 variants in Manaus last year, between 25 and 61 of them could have been reinfected if they were exposed to P.1.

One big unknown is whether what happened in Manaus will be replicated in other areas. P.1 is now spreading across the rest of Brazil and has been found in 24 other countries. In the United States, it has been found in Alaska, Florida, Maryland, Minnesota and Oklahoma, and experts believe it will become more common.

Nuno Faria, a virologist at Imperial College London who helped lead much of the new research, said it was important to double down on every measure known to slow the spread of the virus.

“The ultimate message is that you need to step up all the vaccination efforts as soon as possible,” he said. “You need to be one step ahead of the virus.”

The variant previously known as: The naming conventions for viruses were fine as long as variants remained esoteric topics of research. But now that they are a source of anxiety for billions of people, the World Health Organization is looking for a single naming convention system that would hopefully give the variants names that roll off the tongue — without stigmatizing the people or places associated with them.

Variant P1, and the city of Manaus, Brazil.

Virus Variant in Brazil Infected Many Who Had Already Recovered From Covid-19 - The New York Times (nytimes.com)

We are vaccinated. Everyone wants to visit. Now what? From WIRED.

You're Vaccinated and People Want to Visit. Now What? | WIRED

Several European countries suspend use of AstraZeneca vaccine, because of blood clots.

COVID: Several European countries halt use of AstraZeneca vaccine | News | DW | 11.03.2021

From the NY Times, the week our reality broke.

An opinion piece on a year of living with the coronavirus, and how it has affected American society.

The empty shelves; the people in masks
on the bus; the email saying the
office would be closed. A year ago, we realized
that everything was about to change.
For a brief moment, it felt like we were all
in this together. What happened?

Opinion | The Week Our Reality Broke - The New York Times (nytimes.com)

The blame game starts over the vaccine roll out.

Coronavirus vaccine: Rollout go-slow puts 4 million target in doubt (thenewdaily.com.au)