A new coronavirus variant that was first detected in South Africa during May does not appear to be spreading, the World Health Organization said on Aug. 31, adding WHO was monitoring the variant as the virus evolves.
Johnson & Johnson’s Covid-19 vaccine is working well in South Africa, offering protection against severe disease and death, the co-head of a trial in the country said on Aug. 6.
The head of the World Trade Organization said there was a pathway for a global deal to get more Covid-19 vaccines to developing countries, despite a split over whether drugs firms should be stripped of their intellectual property rights.
An experimental monoclonal antibody treatment for Covid-19 being developed by Eli Lilly and Co. and AbCellera Biologics Inc. can “potently” neutralize numerous coronavirus variants, including those first identified in the UK, Brazil, South Africa, California and New York, scientists found in test tube experiments. According to another study, some Covid-19 survivors infected early in the pandemic still have detectable antibodies against the virus a year later.
Coronavirus-related deaths worldwide crossed 3 million on April 6, according to a Reuters tally, as the latest global resurgence of Covid-19 infections is challenging vaccination efforts across the globe.
Novavax Inc. said on April 5 participants in the company’s Covid-19 vaccine trials in South Africa and the UK can receive additional shots, ensuring those who received a placebo can also get the active vaccine.
South Africa delayed the distribution of the AstraZeneca-University of Oxford Covid-19 vaccine after data suggested it “provides minimal protection” against mild disease from the South African variant.
A potent coronavirus variant originating in South Africa and found to be partly resistant to current vaccines and antibody treatments was detected for the first time in the United States in two South Carolina patients, health officials said.
Novavax Inc. said the company’s coronavirus vaccine was 89.3% effective in preventing Covid-19 in a trial conducted in the United Kingdom, and was nearly as effective in protecting against the more highly contagious variant first discovered in the UK, according to a preliminary analysis.
The data continues to come in on the various Covid-19 variants, and so far the news is pretty good, according to BioSpace.