Elisha Fieldstadt
1m ago / 1: 50 PM UTC
Moderna working to upgrade vaccine, develop booster to target South African variant
Moderna announced Monday that the company is working on upgrading its vaccine to better protect against the new South African strain of the coronavirus.
While the vaccine protects effectively against the new, more easily transmitted U.K. variant, antibody levels are diminished sixfold by the South African variant, the company said.
According to Moderna, the vaccine should still be effective against the South African variant, which Dr. Anthony Fauci also said on NBC’s “TODAY” Monday, but Moderna is nevertheless working to specifically target that variant.
Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel said on CNBC Monday that while the current vaccine should protect against the variant, it is “unknowable what will happen in six months, in 12 months.”
“Immunity may go down over time,” Bancel said, adding that the new work on the vaccine is being done out of an “abundance of caution.”
“We cannot be behind — we cannot fall behind this virus,” Bancel said.
Reuters
1h ago / 12: 40 PM UTC
U.K. prime minister considers quarantining foreign travelers in hotels
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he was looking at tightening the United Kingdom’s border controls because of the risk of “vaccine-busting” new Covid-19 variants on Monday.
“We have to realize there is at least the theoretical risk of a new variant that is a vaccine — busting variant coming in — we’ve got to be able to keep that under control,” Johnson told reporters at a vaccination center.
Johnson added that the government was “actively working on” the option of quarantining international travelers in hotels upon their arrival to the U.K.
Johnson said the United Kingdom was on target to reach its vaccination targets for vulnerable groups by Feb. 15. So far the U.K. has given 6.3 million people their first vaccine shot.
Yuliya Talmazan
1h ago / 12: 38 PM UTC
Merck discontinues two Covid-19 vaccine candidates
Pharmaceutical giant Merck said on Monday that it was discontinuing the development of two Covid-19 vaccine candidates after early clinical trial data showed an “inferior” immune response.
Merck said in a statement posted on its website the decision to scrap the two vaccine candidates followed its review of findings from Phase 1 clinical studies.
The company said the studies showed that both candidates were generally well-tolerated, but the immune responses were inferior to those seen following natural infection and those reported for other Covid-19 vaccines.
Paul Goldman and Saphora Smith
2h ago / 11: 44 AM UTC
Israel begins vaccinating students aged 16-18
Israel has begun vaccinating students between the ages of 16-18 in a bid to enable them to sit exams.
The announcement from the health ministry that the vaccination program was opening up to some school pupils came last week and one Israeli health plan told NBC News it had started administering doses Sunday.
The development comes as Israel decided to halt passenger flights to and from the country from midnight Monday to Jan. 31.
Reuters
2h ago / 11: 42 AM UTC
Anti-lockdown protests turn violent in the Netherlands, 240 arrested
Clashes broke out in several Dutch cities over the introduction of new nationwide lockdown measures on Sunday, resulting in over 240 arrests, according to police and local media.
Police used water cannon, dogs and mounted officers to disperse a protest in central Amsterdam on Sunday afternoon, according to eye-witnesses. Nearly 200 people, some of them throwing stones and fireworks, were detained in the city.
One of the demonstrations took place in Amsterdam’s Museum Square, which violated a ban on public gatherings. The violent protests were prompted by tougher social distancing measures, announced by the government. The new national measures include a nightly curfew for the first time since World War Two.
Dutch military police said in a tweet that they were deployed to at least two additional cities in the south to support local law enforcement and contain the violence.
Yasmine Salam and Reuters
4h ago / 10: 16 AM UTC
Israel bans international flights amid fears of new variants
Israel is set to stop all international travel from Monday evening as it seeks to prevent the spread of new coronavirus variants.
The flight ban will come into effect from midnight tonight and last until the end of the month, according to a statement released by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office.
“Other than rare exceptions, we are closing the sky hermetically to prevent the entry of the virus variants and also to ensure that we progress quickly with our vaccination campaign,” Netanyahu said in public remarks at the start of a cabinet meeting.
Exceptions for outgoing departures include emergency medical evacuations and attending a funeral overseas of a close relative.
The country’s borders have already largely been closed to foreigners during the pandemic, with only Israeli passport holders allowed entry.
Reuters
4h ago / 10: 10 AM UTC
Mexican President López Obrador tests positive for Covid-19
MEXICO CITY — Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said Sunday that he had tested positive for Covid-19. His symptoms were light and he was receiving medical treatment, he said.
“As always, I am optimistic,” said López Obrador, 67, who has resisted wearing a mask.
Mexico is in the grip of a second wave of the pandemic, and it has the fourth-highest death toll worldwide. The Health Ministry on Sunday reported 10,872 new confirmed coronavirus cases and 530 deaths, bringing its totals to 1,763,219 infections and 149,614 deaths.
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