Scattered reports have emerged of people being reinfected with coronavirus after testing negative – but one man may have had three ‘recurrences’ of COVID-19 over the course a gruelling, ultimately fatal, 154-day battle with the infection. In a case report, Brigham and Women’s Hospital physicians describe the struggle of a 45-year-old man who had a … Read more
Antibody cocktail drugs that offered ‘great hope’ in treating Covid-19 are ineffective against worrying new variants of the virus, research suggests. Lab tests found the experimental treatments, known as monoclonal antibodies, failed to neutralise strains one or more of strains which emerged in Kent, South Africa and Brazil. The drugs are derived from cloning a … Read more
Coronavirus vaccines could be tweaked to spark immunity against new variants in just three weeks, a top scientist has said. Professor Robin Shattock, an Imperial College London scientist who is working on booster shots, said experts could rapidly adapt the current crop of jabs, allowing them to be rolled out within a couple of months. … Read more
Boris Johnson today insisted lockdown is working and vaccines are effective against coronavirus variants – as he held out hopes summer holidays can happen this year. The PM struck a positive tone as he visited a vaccination site in Yorkshire, saying there was evidence of a ‘flattening and maybe even a falling off of infection … Read more
Boris Johnson today insisted lockdown is working and vaccines are effective against coronavirus variants – but warned it is too early to take our ‘foot off the throat of the beast’. The PM struck a positive tone as he visited a vaccination site in Yorkshire, saying there was evidence of a ‘flattening and maybe even … Read more
Tesla has revamped the two most expensive cars in its arsenal, with the Model S and Model X getting upgrades along with the addition of the auto maker’s latest tri-motor Plaid variants. But UK buyers will need to wait a year to get their hands on them. The updates extend the gap between Elon Musk’s electric … Read more
UK’S ‘KENT’ VARIANT – B117 UK health officials announced in December that a ‘variant of concern’ had emerged in Kent. The variant is known to scientists as B117, a name derived from the location of its most significant mutations. B117 appears to be more infectious than older ‘wild-type’ coronavirus variants. Most estimates put it at … Read more
UK’S ‘KENT’ VARIANT – B117 UK health officials announced in December that a ‘variant of concern’ had emerged in Kent. The variant is known to scientists as B117, a name derived from the location of its most significant mutations. B117 appears to be more infectious than older ‘wild-type’ coronavirus variants. Most estimates put it at … Read more
Scientists need to start developing new Covid vaccines now to stop the coronavirus evolving to escape the immune system, an expert investigating new variants of the virus has warned. Professor Ravi Gupta, a Cambridge University microbiologist, fears there is a risk that mutations will ‘chip away’ at the efficacy of the current crop of vaccines … Read more
People who have survived COVID-19 may have some protection against getting reinfected after all, a new study suggests. Scientists at Rockefeller University found that a type of immunity, from memory B cells, lasts at least six months. B cells ‘remember’ how to make antibodies against viruses, including the one that causes COVID-19. And these cells … Read more