This is scary news:
South Africa Says #AstraZeneca's #Covid19 Vaccine is Not Effective at Stopping Variant [_link]

— Luanna Meyer PhD (@LuBonLez) February 7, 2021

Covid-19 news: Oxford vaccine appears effective against UK variant | NewScientist - Feb. 5, 2021 |

Vaccine researchers are investigating ways to modify existing covid-19 vaccines rapidly to ensure continued protection against other new variants as well. "We are working with AstraZeneca to optimise the pipeline required for a strain change should one become necessary," said Sarah Gilbert at the University of Oxford in a statement.

"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 said. "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."

Covid-19: Moderna plans booster doses to counter variants

Oxford AstraZeneca just recently had announced a third or "booster" jab to be effective against South Africa variant.

Daily update: COVID-19 information (7 February 2021)

➡️ [_link] pic.twitter.com/3L9nxadI3I

— UK Prime Minister (@10DowningStreet) February 7, 2021

Covid-19 reinfections may be more common than realized. Why isn't the US tracking them? [_link]

— NBC News (@NBCNews) February 7, 2021

Dr. Fauci says the US should proceed with its plan to give people both doses of the currently available Covid-19 vaccines, even as some top health care officials have suggested that the priority should be giving first doses to as many people as possible. [_link]

— NBC News (@NBCNews) February 8, 2021

Annual vaccines could be required to combat new Covid variants, minister says [_link]

— The Independent (@Independent) February 8, 2021

Oxford vaccine lead researcher Professor Sarah Gilbert provided the same assurances in an interview with the BBC's Andrew Marr Show on Sunday, saying: "Maybe we won't be reducing the number of cases as much, but we still won't be seeing the deaths, hospitalisations and severe disease.

[This can not be confirmed for the new mutated variant as Oxford promised a third jab as booster - Oui]

Covid: Public can have confidence in UK's vaccines, Nadhim Zahawi says | BBC News |

AstraZeneca races to adapt Covid vaccine as South Africa suspends rollout [_link]

— CNBC (@CNBC) February 8, 2021

South Africa halts rollout of AstraZeneca's Covid-19 vaccine after shot falters against variant

South Africa is halting its rollout of the AstraZeneca-University of Oxford Covid-19 vaccine, the country's minister of health said Sunday, following a new analysis that suggests the shot "provides minimal protection" against mild disease caused by the new coronavirus variant circulating in South Africa.

Two top virologists advising the government said during a press conference that the pause was necessary. They said South Africa would institute a new process in which vaccines are initially studied in a research phase to try and determine that each vaccine reduces Covid hospitalizations in South Africa despite the widespread new variant there.

Dr Helen Rees:
Covid: 'Society might not return to normal until 2022' | BBC News Wales |

Professor Salim Abdool Karim:
Hogging Covid vaccines endangers all nations, warns South Africa expert

Oxford Covid vaccine has 10% efficacy against South African variant, study suggests | The Guardian |

Scientists at the University of Texas medical branch collected antibody-containing blood plasma from 20 people who recently had two shots of the Pfizer/BioNTech jab.

In tests, the antibodies were on average 81% as effective at neutralising the engineered virus as they were at blocking older variants. The results, reported in Nature Medicine, suggest the variant's key mutation, known as E484K, does not dramatically undermine the vaccine's protection.

Neutralization of SARS-CoV-2 spike 69/70 deletion, E484K and N501Y variants by BNT162b2 vaccine-elicited sera | Nature |

Since the previously reported studies were conducted, rapidly spreading variants of SARS-CoV-2 have arisen in the UK, SA and other regions. These variants have multiple mutations in their spike glycoproteins, which are key targets of virus-neutralizing antibodies.

The emerged spike mutations have raised concerns of vaccine efficacy against these new strains. The goal of this study was to examine the effect of several key spike mutations from the UK and SA strains on BNT162b2 vaccine-elicited neutralization.

#vaccin#AstraZeneca

Abandonné en Suisse, Australie et Afrique du Sud, pour résultats insuffisants,...le vaccin d'Astra Zeneca ne fonctionne qu'en France et dans le bras d'Olivier Veran.
Il faudrait lire les publications scientifiques !!! [_link]

— Brunel Alain (@BrunelAlain6) February 8, 2021

Switzerland withholds approval for AstraZeneca Covid vaccine citing lack of evidence | The Independent - Feb. 4, 2021 |

Dispatch of millions of COVID-19 vaccines to Africa expected to start in February: WHO

The joint UN-led COVAX initiative aims to start shipping about 90 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines to Africa in February, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Thursday. The immunization roll out will be the continent's largest ever mass vaccination campaign.

Africa has watched other regions start #COVID19 vaccination campaigns from the side-lines for too long. This planned roll-out is a critical first step to ensuring the continent gets equitable access to vaccines.

We know no one will be safe until everyone is safe. pic.twitter.com/Z5l1WPlhk5

— Dr Matshidiso Moeti (@MoetiTshidi) February 4, 2021

Lockdown in France 🇫🇷 reduced R0 2.90 to 0.67 (77% ⬇️). Modeling study suggests control measures will need to be continued past May (vaccination not in model, nor high levels of compliance w/ 😷). [_link]

— Angus Thomson (@ThomsonAngus) February 8, 2021

"The mask doesn't care whether it stops a corona- or an influenza virus."

German flu case numbers are extremely low this season, partially due to #COVID19 protection measures, says Health Minister @jensspahn. pic.twitter.com/8GCAp68UJ3

— DW Politics (@dw_politics) February 8, 2021

The most interesting clue was what @MarionKoopmans explained:
That some animals known (rabbits) or suspected (ferret-badgers, bamboo rats) to be susceptible to #SARSCov2 were at Huanan market and came from farms/traders in regions where bats are known to harbor related viruses.

— Kai Kupferschmidt (@kakape) February 9, 2021

The Kent variant's mutation (the Bristol variant?) worries ministers because it's the same one as the South African/Brazilian strands - E484K - and also more vaccine resistant. Highly likely a new vaccine - or a modification of a current one - will have to be made to fight it (2)

— Tom Newton Dunn (@tnewtondunn) February 2, 2021

Proportion of deaths from Covid in England and Wales hits all-time high | The Guardian |

Thinktank critical of NHS Covid response has links to Hancock

Despite making progress in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, Germany's top officials are expected to keep lockdown restrictions in place. [_link]

— DW News (@dwnews) February 9, 2021

Coronavirus vaccine development: from SARS and MERS to COVID-19

Vaccines for Pandemic Threats

Vaccines for SARS-CoV-2: Lessons from Other Coronavirus Strains

Post-Brexit and having solved the immigration terror breaching our borders, the Tory government aim to tackle the illegal entrance of foreign variants of the SARS CoV-2 virus. Only pure British bred variants will receive an immunity passport for travel abroad. The Kent and Bristol mutations will be recognized as sovereign British.

Guardian front page, Wednesday 10 February 2021: Covid travel rule-breakers face risk of 10 years in jail pic.twitter.com/SOz8a6CVVO

— The Guardian (@guardian) February 9, 2021

Jail threat for Covid 'red list' rule-breakers criticised as lockdown fines ignored

Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine reducing viral load, data from Israel suggests [_link]

— The Guardian (@guardian) February 9, 2021

Israel to pay more than $237.5 million for potential Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine | JNS - Nov. 13, 2020 |

Israel trades medical data for vaccine doses | Globes - Jan. 8, 2021 |

Coronavirus live news: annual vaccine may be needed, says J&J chief; Spain tops 3m cases [_link]

— The Guardian (@guardian) February 10, 2021

Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine reducing viral load, data from Israel suggests [_link]

— The Guardian (@guardian) February 9, 2021

Israel to pay more than $237.5 million for potential Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine | JNS - Nov. 13, 2020 |

Israel trades medical data for vaccine doses | Globes - Jan. 8, 2021 |

These wealthy vaccine cheats prove we were never all in this together | Arwa Mahdawi [_link]

— The Guardian (@guardian) February 9, 2021

Serbia's PM says vaccine success down to prioritising healthcare over politics

Serbia has made a meteoric start to its vaccination rollout - the second fastest in Europe behind the United Kingdom.

Lying outside of the EU and its joint procurement programme, Belgrade has secured a million doses of the Chinese Sinopharm vaccine, alongside shipments of Russia's Sputnik V and the Pfizer/BioNTech jab.

Turkey, Serbia, Bosnia and Hungary Put Trust in Russian, Chinese Vaccines | Balkan Insight |

Similar to all wars, just a small number of frontline soldiers are involved and confronted with the dire consequences ...

"We are fighting a biological war, Covid is hell, and the public will never understand just how intense this is. I'm numb to tragedy and death"

A nurse reflects on a year battling coronavirus #MyCovidYear @BBC5Live [_link]

— BBC News (UK) (@BBCNews) February 10, 2021

People in UK should not be booking holidays at home or abroad yet due to coronavirus, transport secretary warns [_link]

— BBC News (UK) (@BBCNews) February 10, 2021

Oxford/AstraZeneca is a major WHO partner for delivery vaccines on its Global COVAX program

COVAX Announces additional deals to access promising COVID-19 vaccine candidates; plans global rollout starting Q1 2021 | Dec. 18, 2020 |

COVAX Announces new agreement, plans for first deliveries | Jan. 22, 2021 |

Additionally, COVAX announced that, pending WHO emergency use listings, nearly 150 million doses of the AstraZeneca/Oxford candidate are anticipated to be available in Q1 2021, via existing agreements with the Serum Institute of India (SII) and AstraZeneca.

WHO SAGE presenting its interim recommendations on the use of AstraZeneca Vaccine against #COVID19 [_link]

— World Health Organization (WHO) (@WHO) February 10, 2021

AstraZeneca vaccine can be used for over 65s and Covid variants, WHO says | France24 |

The alarm was raised when a trial at Johannesburg's University of Witwatersrand concluded the AstraZeneca vaccine provided only "minimal" protection against mild to moderate Covid-19 caused by the variant.
That was bad news for many poorer nations counting on the greater accessibility, affordability and logistical advantages offered by the AstraZeneca shot.

But the WHO and its partners have cautioned against dismissing the vaccine, pointing to the small size and possibly problematic methodology of the South African study, insisting more data was needed.

Pfizer vaccine found to give strong immune response to new Covid variants [_link]

— The Guardian (@guardian) February 11, 2021

Germany will impose strict border controls and impose travel bans for the Czech Republic and Austria due to the prevalence of coronavirus variants in some areas. [_link]

— DW News (@dwnews) February 12, 2021

Coronavirus R number falls below one in UK for first time since July [_link]

— The Guardian (@guardian) February 12, 2021

Latest Graun toon for the morning shift - although comments closed 7 hours ago, which is just as well as on reflection I don't understand this cartoon at all. Should've done The Great Frost - with Lord Frost freezing fishing boats in the channel - oh well [_link]

— Martin Rowson (@MartinRowson) February 13, 2021

This is New Zealand.

No masks, no lockdowns, no new cases -- with PM Jacinda Ardern at a huge outdoor BBQ on a national holiday.

What leadership looks like.

🇳🇿 pic.twitter.com/yWRLNCKPsy

— Goodable (@Goodable) February 8, 2021

New Zealand, with a population of five million, has reported a total of just over 2,300 cases and 25 deaths since the pandemic started.

Brexit Britain's victory over the EU on Covid vaccination is not what it seems | The Guardian |

True, Britain got a month's head start on the EU by approving the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine [German development] at the start of December, and then AstraZeneca's at the end of that month. It had to accept the terms offered by the pharmaceutical companies, however, both in paying a higher price per dose, and by waiving their civil liability in the event of adverse effects.

But, and there's a very big but, the UK's "success" is a really an illusion: because to be fully effective, the vaccine requires two doses. And only 0.80% of the UK population has received both shots, less than that of France (0.92%), and a long way behind Denmark, which has 2.87% of its population fully vaccinated.

Above all, extending the time lag between first and the second doses, as the UK has done, potentially carries risks. So Brexit Britain's triumph doesn't seem quite so striking, even if the logistics of rollout - which are handled by national health ministries and have no EU involvement - are more efficient in the UK than in most European countries.

...
The EU together set out the demands it wanted met in exchange for financial aid aimed at speeding up production (€2.7bn). These demands included refusing to exempt laboratories from civil liability, insisting that the companies owned production lines on EU territory - an essential precaution at a time of temporary border closures - and, finally, reasonable prices. Not all these conditions were imposed by the US, the UK, Canada or Israel (which has also agreed to supply patients' data to the pharma companies).

...
Solidarity is one of the great virtues of the European Union and it has implemented it without complaint, not only among its citizens but also with regard to the rest of the world. African countries in particular will benefit from the surplus jabs ordered by the EU. And this is a well thought out solidarity, by the way, since only vaccinating Europe's population makes no sense in a globalised world. [The EU-27 partnered with $500M contribution to the COVAX-WHO program]

Could the EU have moved with more speed? No doubt, but it would have had to kowtow more to big pharma, and would have been roundly criticised for doing so. Likewise, blaming Brussels for what are essentially production issues is just nonsense: first, production is down to the manufacturing firms and, second, they have never before had to deliver such volumes in such tight timeframes.

With an entirely new and complex vaccine technology such as the RNA messenger, rolling out production on this scale is obviously a challenge. This is why the French drug maker Sanofi will only be ready to release vaccines produced under its licensing agreement with Pfizer-BioNTech by June at the earliest.

It is true that the EU made one massive blunder. And it can be blamed entirely on the European commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, not the EU as a whole. By rushing through curbs on vaccine exports after its spat with AstraZeneca, the commission, out of sheer clumsiness, managed to reignite political tensions arising from the Brexit arrangements for Northern Ireland.

This was an incredible mistake and it happened only because the German president of the commission communicated exclusively with her German entourage. Had she kept the rest of the institution in the loop, the measure suspending a key part of the Northern Ireland protocol would never have seen the light of day.

France ramps up COVID-19 vaccine production | BioPharma |

The US reported 72k new cases today, the lowest number in 4 months. Hospitalizations continue to decline as do deaths. We're not at the end of this pandemic, but if we continue to #MaskUp, and accelerate our vaccinations, we might soon be able to see the very beginning of the end [_link]

— Jonathan Reiner (@JReinerMD) February 15, 2021

Basics: solidarity and caring for one another ... a long road ahead.

COVID-19 vaccines touch down in Australia, New Zealand, inoculations to start [_link] pic.twitter.com/7DFqoSAPK1

— Reuters (@Reuters) February 15, 2021

"The Eagle has landed," Australian Health Minister Greg Hunt told reporters in Canberra on Monday as the first shipment of 142,000 doses of the vaccine developed by Pfizer Inc and Germany's BioNTech touched down.

India to ship Covid-19 vaccines to Canada as diplomatic tension eases

Dear Hon'ble PM @JustinTrudeau, I thank you for your warm words towards India and it's vaccine industry. As we await regulatory approvals from Canada, I assure you, @SerumInstIndia will fly out #COVISHIELD to Canada in less than a month; I'm on it!

— Adar Poonawalla (@adarpoonawalla) February 15, 2021

Oldham areas worst hit for poverty, amid Coronavirus crisis | Oldhan Chronicle |

Oldham is one of the most deprived towns in the UK. And the #coronavirus lockdown has made issues like child poverty even worse.

Read more on this story: [_link] pic.twitter.com/EUs1ZaXES5

— Sky News (@SkyNews) February 16, 2021

A triumphant Tory leadership celebrating the succes of the COVID-19 vaccination program across the country.

New Covid variant with potentially worrying mutations found in UK

Researchers say 32 cases of B1525 in Britain, with other cases in countries including Denmark, US and Australia

As anticipated, a new #VOC, lineage #B1525 with a combination of common mutations and deletions seen in #B117, #B1351 and #P1, also the well-known E484K. Sequencing shows already a wide spread, likely due to international travel #SarsCoV2 [_link]

— Harry Spoelstra (@HarrySpoelstra) February 12, 2021

Health officials in Texas scrambled Monday to administer more than 5,000 Covid-19 vaccines after a deadly winter storm pummeling the state caused a power outage in a facility storing the doses. [_link]

— NBC News (@NBCNews) February 16, 2021

Coronavirus live news: concern in Germany over public reluctance to have Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine [_link]

— The Guardian (@guardian) February 17, 2021

In Vitro Study Findings Show Sera from Individuals Immunized with the $PFE, $BNTX 's COVID-19 Vaccine Neutralize SARS-CoV-2 with South African Variant Spike Mutations #Pfizer #BioNTech #Coronavirus #COVID19 #SARSCoV #B1351 [_link]

— Hottest Stocks Now (@HottestStockNow) February 17, 2021

Guardian front page, 18 February 2021: Covid spreading most in children as overall infections show big fall pic.twitter.com/XN3kT6aQKr

— The Guardian (@guardian) February 17, 2021

COVID-19 pandemic has lowered life expectancy by more than a year, new study finds

The researchers predicted even larger declines in 2020 among Black and Latino communities, which have been hit particularly hard by COVID-19. The study projected that life expectancy for Black people will drop by 2.1 years, to 72.78 years, and that life expectancy for Latino people will drop by 3.05 years, to 78.77 years. In contrast, the life expectancy for white people is projected to decline by 0.68 years to 77.84 years.

The authors blamed economic factors for a disproportionate decrease in life expectancy.

#AstraZeneca's 💉 #vaccine contract with the #UK 🇬🇧 says it will make its "best reasonable efforts".

As our #Brussels correspondent @DaveKeating explains, the same phrase is used in its deal with the #EU 🇪🇺, which has been blamed for the bloc's faltering #vaccination program ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/mzqYuz4U7g

— FRANCE 24 English (@France24_en) February 18, 2021

Explainer: Britain First!  🇬🇧

Biontech: Impfstoff auch bei Lagerung bei minus 25 bis minus 15 Grad stabil: Mainz - Der Impfstoff des Mainzer Unternehmens Biontech und seines US-Partners Pfizer kann laut Daten der Entwickler auch bei geringeren... [_link] #Biontech #COVID19 #Impfen pic.twitter.com/1cuZeuuk9O

— Deutsches Ärzteblatt (@Dt_Aerzteblatt) February 19, 2021

A new #COVID19 vaccine efficacy study from Israel has concluded that Pfizer/BioNTech's jab is up to 85% effective after the first dose 💉 [_link]

— Sky News (@SkyNews) February 19, 2021

... but the Janssen vaccine distributed and manufactured through Johnson & Johnson has been approved as 3rd vaccine by the FDA in the US!!

The two others are Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna.

Bit confusing in tweet, but not an official FDA approval at this stage.

Johnson & Johnson announced that the @US_FDA has issued Emergency Use Authorization for our single-dose #COVID19 vaccine for ages 18+. Read more: https://t.co/HqP7pG3cH3

The Janssen COVID-19 Vaccine has not been approved or licensed by FDA: [_link] pic.twitter.com/8a2sNJZx3N

— Johnson & Johnson (@JNJNews) February 28, 2021

⚠️ ⁉️⁉️