Health News Roundup: COVID-19 vaccine developed by AstraZeneca PLC effective against P1; Buenos Aires welcomes nightlife and more

Preliminary data from a study conducted at the University of Oxford indicates that the COVID-19 vaccine developed by AstraZeneca PLC is effective against the P1, or Brazilian, variant, a source with knowledge of the study told Reuters on Friday.


Devdiscourse News Desk | Updated: 07-03-2021 03:52 IST | Created: 07-03-2021 02:28 IST
Health News Roundup: COVID-19 vaccine developed by AstraZeneca PLC effective against P1; Buenos Aires welcomes nightlife and more

Following is the health news roundup for the day.

Study indicates COVID-19 vaccine developed by AstraZeneca PLC effective against P1 

Preliminary data from a study conducted at the University of Oxford indicates that the COVID-19 vaccine developed by AstraZeneca PLC is effective against the P1, or Brazilian, variant, a source with knowledge of the study told Reuters on Friday. The data indicate that the vaccine will not need to be modified in order to protect against the variant, which is believed to have originated in the Amazonian city of Manaus, said the source, who requested anonymity as the results have not yet been made public.

Night and day in South America: Buenos Aires welcomes nightlife, new lockdowns in Brazil

In Buenos Aires on Friday night the doors of the Colón Theater reopened for the first time in a year since being shut because of the coronavirus pandemic, a sign of how the capital of Argentina is slowly letting its hair down once again. In neighboring Brazil, however, Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro have gone in the opposite direction, both announcing tighter restrictions this week, a reflection of how the two regional powerhouses are on completely different tracks battling the virus.

U.S. administers 87.9 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines: CDC

The United States has administered 87,912,323 doses of COVID-19 vaccines as of Saturday morning and delivered 116,355,405 doses, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. The tally of doses are for both Moderna Inc and Pfizer Inc/BioNTech SE vaccines as of 6:00 a.m. ET on Saturday, the agency said.

Merck says study shows COVID-19 drug causes quick reduction in virus

U.S. drugmaker Merck & Co Inc said on Saturday the experimental antiviral drug molnupiravir it is developing with Ridgeback Bio showed a quicker reduction in infectious virus in its phase 2a study among participants with early COVID-19. "The secondary objective findings in this study, of a quicker decrease in infectious virus among individuals with early COVID-19 treated with molnupiravir, are promising," said William Fischer, Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine, in a statement from the companies.

UK locates missing person with Brazil COVID-19 variant: Financial Times

English health authorities have tracked down a previously-unidentified person who tested positive for the so-called 'Brazil variant' of COVID-19, the Financial Times reported on Friday. Health officials said on Sunday they had not been able to account for one of six cases in the country of a highly transmissible variant of coronavirus first identified in the Brazilian city of Manaus.

EU seeks to access AstraZeneca vaccines produced in U.S.: FT

The European Union will urge the United States to permit the export of millions of doses of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine to Europe, underlining Brussels' scramble to bridge supply shortfalls, the Financial Times reported on Saturday. The EU also wants Washington to ensure the free flow of shipments of crucial vaccine ingredients needed in European production, according to the FT.

Chile donates 20,000 doses of Sinovac coronavirus vaccine to Ecuador

Ecuador has received a donation of some 20,000 doses of the Sinovac coronavirus vaccine from Chile, Ecuador's President Lenin Moreno said on Saturday, in a sign of the stark disparities in South American countries' inoculation campaigns. Chile, one of Latin America's wealthiest countries, ranks sixth in the world for per-capita vaccine shots administered, according to Reuters data, with a quarter of the population now having received a dose.

Abbott's test to distinguish coronavirus and flu viruses gets U.S. authorization

Abbott Laboratories said on Friday the U.S. health regulator has granted emergency use authorization for its molecular test to detect and distinguish the coronavirus and two types of flu viruses with a single test. The test, Alinity m Resp-4-Plex, can be conducted with one nasal swab sample and can differentiate the coronavirus, flu A, flu B and another respiratory virus called respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), the company said.

(With inputs from agencies.)

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