“What we are going to see is a cat-and-mouse game between virus changing and then vaccine manufacturers having to quickly change their vaccines.” NBC NEWS
Highlights By: Balbir Singh Sooch-Sikh Vichar Manch
https://www.thehindu.com/
2. CARTOON SPEAKS CLEARLY ABOUT NEW STRAINS IN THE MATTER: IS IT ALSO NOT A SET BACK TO “COVAXIN SHOT” DIPLOMACY?
3. “Who Shouldn't Take Covaxin Shot? Bharat Biotech Explains Amid Concerns: Covaxin: Bharat Biotech's factsheet lists side effects that include pain, swelling or itching where the recipient has been injected, body ache, headache, fever, malaise, weakness, rashes, nausea and vomiting...
(i) Bharat Biotech's fact-sheet says those with a history of allergies, those who have fever, those who have a bleeding disorder or are on a blood thinner, those pregnant or breastfeeding, and those with any other serious health-related issues must not be injected with Covaxin......
(ii) It is important to appreciate that receiving the vaccine does not mean that other precautions related to Covid-19 need not be followed."https://www.ndtv.com/india-
The Food and Drug Administration has laid the groundwork for drugmakers to be able to react quickly to emerging coronavirus variants and get modified products to the public without the need for extended clinical trials.
"We are using every tool in our toolbox to fight this pandemic, including pivoting as the virus adapts," Dr. Janet Woodcock, acting FDA commissioner, said in a statement Monday...”
https://www.nbcnews.com/
Fight against Covid-19 variants in South Africa is lesson for world: “What we are going to see is a cat-and-mouse game between virus changing and then vaccine manufacturers having to quickly change their vaccines.” Feb. 21, 2021, 3:00 PM IST: By Richard Engel and Gabe Joselow
When the first shipment of AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine arrived in South Africa this month, President Cyril Ramaphosa hailed the consignment as a means to “turn the tide” against the virus.
But the growth of a dangerous variant of the coronavirus has thrown the country’s response to the pandemic into disarray, and raised fears around the world that mutant strains will potentially render the current generation of vaccines ineffective.
“What we are going to see is a cat-and-mouse game between virus changing and then vaccine manufacturers having to quickly change their vaccines,” said Devi Sridhar, professor of global public health at the University of Edinburgh.
“So the lesson is we need to keep the numbers low so we don't see more and more variants emerging, which make it harder to vaccinate against.”
The first signs of trouble came in October, when doctors noticed a worrying rise in the number of cases, specifically around Nelson Mandela Bay, the eastern end of the picturesque stretch of South Africa's coastline known as “the garden route.”
Within five weeks, scientists had identified a variant with troubling mutations to its spike protein, the part of the virus that enables it to enter human cells. Current Covid-19 vaccines target the spike protein, but the mutations may make antibodies produced by the vaccines less effective. The mutations may also make people who previously had coronavirus more susceptible to reinfection.
Oxford University launches AstraZeneca vaccine trials for teenagers: “People who were infected previously with SARS-CoV-2 and who’ve generated antibodies to that virus, those antibodies may no longer recognize this new variant of the virus because of the changes in the spike protein,” said Richard Lessells, a lead researcher at the genetic sequencing lab, KwaZulu-Natal Research Innovation and Sequencing Platform, that identified the variant.
“What that means is it's possible that this variant is able to reinfect people, and that may be contributing to how it’s spreading more efficiently through the population again.”https://www.nbcnews.com/news/
First Posted On: February 23, 2021, 10:15 (IST)
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