President-elect Joe Biden announced a plan on Friday for what will likely be his most pressing challenge when he takes the White House next week: fixing America’s messy Covid-19 vaccine rollout. The plan builds on Biden’s $1.9 trillion economic stimulus proposal, which included a $400 billion Covid-19 plan, announced on Thursday. It seeks more support…
Read moreNatural immunity after Covid-19 could last at least 5 months
For the nearly 100 million people around the world who’ve been infected with the coronavirus, new science offers some comfort: Reinfections appear to be rare, and you may be protected from Covid-19 for at least five months. The study, the largest of its kind, followed more than 20,000 health workers in the UK, regularly testing…
Read moreWhy the US may not see the next dangerous coronavirus variant coming
There’s a reason why a new, more contagious variant of SARS-CoV-2 appeared first in the UK: The country does a lot of viral genetic sequencing. Since the start of the pandemic, researchers in the UK have uploaded 151,859 individual SARS-CoV-2 sequences to GISAID, an international platform for sharing viral genomic data. That’s the highest number…
Read more4 reasons we’re seeing these worrying coronavirus variants now
Since the start of the pandemic, SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, has been mutating, its genetic code slowly changing as it spreads from person to person across the globe. For most of that time, the mutations didn’t concern scientists. The genetic changes didn’t seem meaningful in terms of how dangerous the virus is. Mutations…
Read moreRich countries are hoarding Covid-19 vaccines
More than 80 million Covid-19 vaccine doses have been distributed around the world so far. Only 55 — 55! — have gone to people in low-income countries. In fact, just one country: Guinea. Those 55 doses in Guinea don’t even represent “the start of a ‘real’ national vaccination rollout,” said Edouard Mathieu, head of data…
Read moreInsulted, ignored, persevering: AFL is home to great Irish sporting stories
THEY WERE THE days of their lives. At least that is what his father often tells him. Regularly they gather and reminisce about that famous summer. In 2014, Darragh Joyce captained Kilkenny to All-Ireland minor glory against a Limerick team that included Sean Finn, Cian Lynch, Barry Nash, Peter Casey and Seamus Flanagan. Afterwards, Tipperary…
Read moreThe evidence that Covid-19 vaccines are safe and effective in pregnancy is growing
People who are pregnant are now eligible to get the coronavirus vaccine in more than 40 states — typically ahead of their lower-risk peers. And more than 60,000 of them have already rolled up their sleeves, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Although the Covid-19 vaccines authorized in the US were not…
Read moreBiden now promises 200 million vaccine shots in 100 days. The US is already on track for that.
Click:suitable for President Joe Biden on Thursday set a new goal for Covid-19 vaccines in the US: 200 million shots in his first 100 days in office. That’s up from Biden’s original goal of 100 million in 100 days. “I know it is ambitious — twice our original goal,” Biden said. But the goal of…
Read moreWhat can Kerry and Mayo take from a March league meeting in Tralee?
THE TWO SIDES beaten in the 2021 All-Ireland series by the eventual champions Tyrone, met in Tralee on Saturday night. Kerry and Mayo both entered the game unbeaten in the league to date, and while the spoils went to the home team, both remain in the top two spots in Division 1. Part of the…
Read morePrisons have already failed to contain Covid-19. What happens when the new variants arrive?
The rapid spread of new variants of the coronavirus, some of which seem to be more contagious than older versions, has experts in the US calling for stricter social distancing and better masking to avoid yet another big surge of new Covid-19 cases and deaths. Health advocates and epidemiologists are particularly concerned about what will…
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