Category: Vaccine

South African COVID Variant Confirmed in California

LOS ANGELES—The first two cases of a South African variant of COVID-19 were confirmed in California Feb. 10—but not in the Southland—with Gov. Gavin Newsom saying one case each was detected in the Bay Area counties of Alameda and Santa Clara. “The issue of mutations is top of mind, not only here in the state…


Official: Biden Admin on Track to Meet Its Goal of 100 Million COVID-19 Vaccines in 100 Days

President Joe Biden’s administration is on track to meet its goal of 100 million COVID-19 vaccine doses being administered by Biden’s 101th day in office, an official said Wednesday. “We’ve been making steady progress over the past few weeks, getting more vaccine supply, getting more vaccinators on the ground, and creating more places to get…


White House Says It’s on Track for 100 Million COVID-19 Shots in 100 Days

The Biden administration is on track to meet its goal of 100 million COVID-19 vaccine doses to be administered by President Joe Biden’s 101st day in office, the White House’s coronavirus coordinator said on Feb. 10. “We’ve been making steady progress over the past few weeks, getting more vaccine supply, getting more vaccinators on the ground,…


EU Top Official Regrets ‘Mistakes’ Over Vaccine Export Gaffe

BRUSSELS—The European Union’s top official expressed regret for creating a row with Britain last month when the bloc briefly considered applying an emergency restriction on exports of COVID-19 vaccines also to the UK’s Northern Ireland. Amid a dispute with Anglo-Swedish drugmaker AstraZeneca, the EU introduced tighter rules on exports of COVID-19 vaccines that could hit…


Orange County Sees Declines in COVID-19 Cases as Death Toll Mounts

SANTA ANA—January became the deadliest month for COVID-19 in Orange County Feb. 9 with 33 more fatalities logged, but all of the other indicators such as case and positivity rates continued a downward trend. The adjusted daily case rate per 100,000 people dropped from 39 last Feb. 9 to 29.7, and the test positivity rate…


First Case of Brazilian Virus Strain Detected in Canada

Canada’s first case of the Brazilian COVID-19 variant was detected in Toronto over the weekend, marking it the third variant the country has discovered within its borders, following cases of the UK and South Africa strains identified in the last few months. The Toronto Public Health (TPH) confirmed its first known case of the variant…


Feds to Require Negative COVID Test for Those Entering Canada at Land Borders

OTTAWA—Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says starting next week, anyone arriving in Canada by land will need to show a recent negative COVID-19 test. Trudeau says the new measure will kick in Feb. 15, the latest move to keep COVID-19 from spreading within Canada from people who travelled outside it. That is particularly relevant with multiple,…


UK Minister Urges Public to Keep Faith in COVID-19 Vaccines

The public can still have faith in the efficacy of vaccines despite new research showing they are less effective against the South African variant of the CCP virus, the UK’s vaccine deployment minister Nadhim Zahawi said on Monday. A new study has found that the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine provides minimal protection against mild and moderate cases…


Biden: ‘Very Difficult’ to Reach COVID-19 Herd Immunity Before End of Summer

It will be hard to achieve herd immunity against COVID-19 before the end of the summer, President Joe Biden said in an interview that aired on Sunday. “The idea that this can be done and we can get to herd immunity much before the end of next—this summer, is very difficult,” Biden told CBS. Herd…


Oxford Vaccine Less Effective Against South African Variant, Study Finds

The Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine does not appear to offer protection against mild and moderate cases of the South African variant of the CCP virus, a new study has found. In both the human trials and tests on the blood of those vaccinated, the vaccine “did not show protection against mild-moderate COVID-19” caused by the 501Y.V2 variant,…