How vaccine-makers are combating variants

Hello,

Today in healthcare news: How vaccine-makers are fighting back against coronavirus variants, there’s a “high likelihood current vaccines will need updates, and what you need to know about the variants. 

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Coronavirus variants threaten to upend pandemic progress. Here’s how 4 top vaccine makers are fighting back.

• The emergence of coronavirus variants threatens to lower the efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines and extend the pandemic’s trajectory.
• A barrage of data released in January showed a variant widely circulating in South Africa is particularly troubling.
• Experts told Insider that vaccines still work against these variants, even if the effectiveness is slightly lower than against the original strain.

Read the full story from Andrew Dunn here>>

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Pfizer CEO vows to speed up vaccine development to under 100 days to combat the ‘high likelihood’ that current COVID-19 shots will need upgrades to stay effective

• Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said there was a “high likelihood” current COVID-19 vaccines would become ineffective without upgrades.
• Bourla said the company was working to ensure it could produce a high-efficacy vaccine in 100 days or fewer in the event that this happens.
• Ex-BARDA Director Richard Hatchett stressed governments needed to see infectious diseases as an “existential threat to our society.”

Read the full story from Patricia Kelly Yeo here>> 

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What to know about 4 worrisome coronavirus variants, including one that can partially evade vaccines

• There are a handful of mutated coronavirus strains worrying public health experts and vaccine developers.
• Some of these variants are more infectious, and may be deadlier or able to partially evade existing vaccines.
• Here's what to know about variants first spotted in the UK, South Africa, Brazil, and California.

Read the full story from Aylin Woodward and Andrew Dunn here>>

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More stories we're reading:

• Wisconsin's dairy farmers are dealing with a mental health crisis (Wisconsin Watch)
• Planned Parenthood wants the Biden administration to allow telemedicine abortions now and beyond the COVID-19 pandemic (Insider)
• Oregon healthcare workers stuck in a snowstorm gave vaccines that were about to expire to others caught in traffic (The Washington Post)
• How a Bloomberg reporter helped her dad who was living with ALS die (Bloomberg)
• Planned Parenthood offers Biden help in campaign against coronavirus vaccine misinformation: 'It's all hands on deck.' (Insider)

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- Lydia