Month: March 2022

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 them for infection and antibodies. Between June and November, the researchers — from Public Health England (PHE) — found 44…

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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 of sequences shared by any country in the world. If a more contagious strain of SARS-CoV-2 first evolved in the…

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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 at Oxford University’s Our World in Data, which has been tracking the global vaccine effort. Rather, a few Guinean public…

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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 are normal. Some even weaken the virus. Now, things are different. There are three mutated variants of SARS-CoV-2 of particular…

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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 and Kilkenny played out a thrilling draw in the senior final. Still giddy from success, a few weeks later Joyce…

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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 happen once the new variants find their way into prisons, jails, and immigration detention facilities. Across the US, at least…

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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 studied in pregnancy, early data is now starting to emerge suggesting — as researchers expected — that the vaccines are…

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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 200 million shots in 100 days is really not that ambitious; it’s achievable if absolutely nothing changes with America’s current vaccine rollout.…

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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 current leading football group, what can either take from the mid-March meeting on a night of torrential rain? ******* Kerry…

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Over the past few days, Covid-19 cases have taken an upward turn — a trend that led Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky to say she has a sense of “impending doom.” The increase might seem small; the US is still better off than it was in January. And news about America’s Covid-19 vaccine rollout keeps getting better and better. But there’s a reason Walensky and other public health officials and experts…

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