Africa
An immunocompromised patient in South Africa became a veritable COVID-19 variant laboratory as the virus mutated more than 30 times in 216 days of her infection, according to recent, not-yet-peer-reviewed research paper published in medRxiv.
Please check out the biopharma industry’s COVID-19 stories that are trending for April 13, 2021.
Several mutations of the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19, which are being called variants, are increasingly being found around the world.
South Africa recently announced it was halting 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.
South Africa has 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.
British scientists suggested last week that the U.K. variant may be approximately 30% more lethal than the most common strain that came out of China. But they’re not completely sure of this yet.
SARS-CoV-2 has mutated into several strains. Most of them are not particularly different than the primary strains, but two, B.1.1.7, which was first observed in the U.K., and now 501.V2, which originated in South Africa, have virologists watching closely.
Governments across the globe have flexed their financial muscles to secure promises of as many doses of COVID-19 vaccines as possible when they become available.
When it comes to a novel virus like SARS-CoV2, a certain amount of “rolling with the punches” is required, and governments and global organizations like the World Health Organization are beginning to dismiss certain treatments and devote themselves wholeheartedly to others.
BioSpace provides an up-to-date overview of these deals and the projected COVID-19 vaccine doses each company plans to have within the next couple of years.
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