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COVID-19 SCIENCE: J&J shot recipients may need a booster, new advice on infected kids

COVID-19 SCIENCE: J&J shot recipients may need a booster, new advice on infected kids

NANCY LAPID THE following is a roundup of some of the latest scientific studies on the novel coronavirus and efforts to find treatments and vaccines for COVID-19. Johnson & Johnson shot may need boosting People who received the one-dose Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine may need a booster shot to fend off some of the worrisome coronavirus variants now spreading worldwide, a study suggests.A "significant fraction" of blood samples from recipients of the J&J shot had low neutralizing antibody levels against the Delta, Delta Plus, Beta and Lambda variants, according to a report posted on Wednesday on the medical website…
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UK to track COVID-19 variants with genomic sequencing across the world

UK to track COVID-19 variants with genomic sequencing across the world

BRITAIN has announced that it would provide genomic sequencing support to Brazil, Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria and Pakistan to help identify, assess and track new variants of the novel coronavirus. The novel coronavirus, which has killed 4 million people globally since it emerged in China in late 2019, mutates around once every few weeks, slower than influenza or HIV, but enough to require tweaks to vaccines. Public Health England will extend support to Britain's partners through the New Variant Assessment Platform Programme which tracks changes in the virus. About a third of all SARS-CoV-2 sequences submitted to the international GISAID database…
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Egypt to allow vaccinated travellers

Egypt to allow vaccinated travellers

EGYPT will allow travellers who have taken full doses of approved novel coronavirus vaccines to enter without taking a PCR test, the health ministry has announced. Travellers must present QR-coded certificates that they have received their full doses of one of six COVID-19 vaccines approved by Egypt and the WHO at least two weeks before their arrival. Those from countries impacted by coronavirus variants will be subject to a rapid test upon arrival, while all non-vaccinated travellers must present a PCR test. On Thursday, Egypt reported 466 new coronavirus cases, bringing its total to 278,761. However, officials and experts say…
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COVID Science: Latest

COVID Science: Latest

NANCY LAPID THE following is a roundup of some of the latest scientific studies on the novel coronavirus and efforts to find treatments and vaccines for COVID-19, the illness caused by the virus. India variant shows resistance to antibody drugs, vaccines Antibody drugs and COVID-19 vaccines are less effective against a coronavirus variant that was first detected in India, according to researchers. The variant, known as B.1.617.2, has mutations that make it more transmissible. It is now predominant in some parts of India and has spread to many other countries. A multicenter team of scientists in France studied a B.1.617.2…
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UK’s Johnson dismissed COVID-19 as a ‘scare story’, ex-chief adviser says

UK’s Johnson dismissed COVID-19 as a ‘scare story’, ex-chief adviser says

GUY FAULCONBRIDGE and ELIZABETH PIPER PRIME Minister Boris Johnson and the British state failed to appreciate the deadly threat from the novel coronavirus as it raced across the world in early 2020 and were disastrously slow to impose a lockdown, his former adviser said on Wednesday. With almost 128,000 deaths, the United Kingdom has the world's fifth worst official COVID-19 toll. Reuters has reported how Britain was slow to spot the infections arriving, it was late with a lockdown and it continued to discharge infected elderly hospital patients into care homes. In a blistering attack on the British state, Dominic…
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Bodies float down Ganges as nearly 4,000 more die of COVID in India

Bodies float down Ganges as nearly 4,000 more die of COVID in India

AURABH SHARMA SCORES of bodies are washing up on the banks of the Ganges as Indians fail to keep pace with the deaths and cremations of around 4,000 people a day from the novel coronavirus. India currently accounts for one in three of the reported deaths from coronavirus around the world, according to a Reuters tally, and its health system is overwhelmed, despite donations of oxygen cylinders and other medical equipment from around the world. Rural parts of India not only have more rudimentary healthcare, but are now also running short of wood for traditional Hindu cremations. Authorities said on…
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FACTBOX-Worldwide coronavirus cases cross 131.13 million, death toll at 2,989,554

FACTBOX-Worldwide coronavirus cases cross 131.13 million, death toll at 2,989,554

MORE than 131.13 million people have been reported to be infected by the novel coronavirus globally and 2,989,554​ have died, according to a Reuters tally. Infections have been reported in more than 210 countries and territories since the first cases were identified in China in December 2019. Interactive graphic tracking global spread of coronavirus: open in an external browser. Eikon users can click for a case tracker. The following table lists the top 50 countries by the number of reported cases. A complete list is available with the above links.  COUNTRIES AND TOTAL DEATHS CONFIRMED DEATHS PER TERRITORIES CASES 10,000…
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T cells induced by COVID-19 infection respond to new virus variants

T cells induced by COVID-19 infection respond to new virus variants

JULIE STEENHUYSEN  A critical component of the immune system known as T cells that respond to fight infection from the original version of the novel coronavirus appears to also protect against three of the most concerning new virus variants, according to a U.S. laboratory study released. Several recent studies have shown that certain variants of the novel coronavirus can undermine immune protection from antibodies and vaccines. But antibodies - which block the coronavirus from attaching to human cells - may not tell the whole story, according to the study by researchers at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases…
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Cricket legend Tendulkar contracts COVID-19

Cricket legend Tendulkar contracts COVID-19

INDIA batting great Sachin Tendulkar has revealed that he has contracted the novel coronavirus and has mild symptoms as infections continue to surge in the world's second-most populated country. Tendulkar, who will turn 48 next month, retired from the professional game in 2013 after notching a still unmatched 100 international centuries in a prolific 24-year career. He returned to the crease recently as captain of the India Legends team in a promotional event called the Road Safety World Series in Raipur, in the state of Chhattisgarh. "I have been testing myself and taking all the recommended precautions to ensure COVID…
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UN urges divided world to unite against COVID-19

UN urges divided world to unite against COVID-19

MATTHEW LAVIETES  THE United Nations has urged a divided world to unite against a virus that ignores all borders, saying the pandemic could delay by a decade its goal to end global inequalities. A new U.N. report estimated that the novel coronavirus has unleashed the worst recession in 90 years, threatening to derail its ambitious list of 17 Sustainable Development Goals. The goals, approved in 2015 with a 15-year deadline, aim to end hunger, gender inequality and violence against women, while expanding access to education and health care in poorer nations. "What this pandemic has proven beyond all doubt is…
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