Category: Articles

A coronavirus variant first found in India is now officially a ‘variant of concern,’ the W.H.O. said.

Posted on by Matt Kristoffersen

The New York Times, May 10, 2021 (with Daniel E. Slotnik and Karan Deep Singh)

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Amid a deepening crisis in India, the World Health Organization announced Monday that it had designated the B.1.617 variant, which has been growing more common in the country, as a variant of concern. Scientists still don’t know much about the variant, but they are worried that it might be helping to fuel the rise in the nation’s coronavirus infections, which experts say are probably undercounted.

“There is increased transmissibility demonstrated by some preliminary studies” of the variant, said Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, the technical lead of the W.H.O.’s coronavirus response.

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This New Covid Vaccine Could Bring Hope to the Unvaccinated World

Posted on by Matt Kristoffersen

The New York Times, May 5, 2021

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In early 2020, dozens of scientific teams scrambled to make a vaccine for Covid-19. Some chose tried-and-true techniques, such as making vaccines from killed viruses. But a handful of companies bet on a riskier method, one that had never produced a licensed vaccine: deploying a genetic molecule called RNA.

The bet paid off. The first two vaccines to emerge successfully out of clinical trials, made by Pfizer-BioNTech and by Moderna, were both made of RNA. They both turned out to have efficacy rates about as good as a vaccine could get.

In the months that followed, those two RNA vaccines have provided protection to tens of millions of people in some 90 countries. But many parts of the world, including those with climbing death tolls, have had little access to them, in part because they require being kept in a deep freeze.

Now a third RNA vaccine may help meet that global need. A small German company called CureVac is on the cusp of announcing the results of its late-stage clinical trial. As early as next week, the world may learn whether its vaccine is safe and effective.

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A new study hints at a reason the J.&J. and AstraZeneca vaccines may cause blood clots in rare cases.

Posted on by Carl Zimmer

The New York Times, April 23, 2021

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A panel of advisers to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has recommended lifting the pause on the Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine for all adults while adding a warning label about a rare but dangerous blood clotting disorder. But a central mystery persists: How might a vaccine that has been given to nearly eight million people cause the side effect in just a few of them?

There’s no clear answer yet, but Dr. Andreas Greinacher, a researcher at University Medicine Greifswald in Germany, is leading one effort to find out. At a news conference on Tuesday, he said that he had reached an agreement with Johnson & Johnson to inspect the components of the vaccine to see if it could disrupt the normal blood clotting process under certain rare conditions.

“We just agreed that we would like to work together,” he said.

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The F.D.A. ended its recommended pause on the J.&J. vaccine, clearing the way for states to use it again.

Posted on by Carl Zimmer

The New York Times, April 23, 2021 (with Emily Anthes and Noah Weiland)

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The Food and Drug Administration ended its recommended pause on the Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine on Friday and will add a warning to its label to note the potential risk of rare blood clots.

The decision, which clears the way for states to resume vaccinations, came after a panel of advisers to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention voted to end the pause in a meeting on Friday.

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The White House details a nearly $2 billion plan to enhance the tracking of variants

Posted on by Carl Zimmer

The New York Times, April 16, 2021 (with Noah Weiland)

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The White House on Friday announced an almost $2 billion plan for expanding and improving the nation’s ability to track coronavirus variants, an effort that public health experts have said is desperately needed to fight against variants that could drive another wave or potentially undermine the effectiveness of vaccines.

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