Oxford University infects volunteers with coronavirus for the sake of science, Europe and the U.S. make decisions about Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca vaccines, and the U.S. wants to add 80% of the world’s countries to the list of dangerous travel destinations. The most important information about the Covid-19 pandemic worldwide – in our daily overview.
The number of deaths due to coronavirus infection has exceeded 3.02 million worldwide, and the number of people infected since the beginning of the pandemic is 141.5 million. According to WHO data as of April 19, a total of 793.5 million doses of various coronavirus vaccines have been successfully administered worldwide. The United States continues to lead the world in both the number of people infected and the number of people vaccinated. The situation in India continues to deteriorate, with at least 200,000 people being infected every day for the past six days.
The University of Oxford announced on Monday the start of a study in which volunteers who have already recovered from the coronavirus will be reinfected. The aim of the experiment is to study the body’s immune response to the virus. As Professor Helen McShane explained, during the controlled experiment, scientists will know exactly when the participant became infected and how much virus they received. The goal of the first phase of the experiment is to determine the minimum amount of virus in the body at which it begins to replicate but symptoms have not yet occurred. Participants in the trial will be quarantined for at least 17 days while their lungs and hearts are constantly monitored. After the main part of the study, their health will be monitored for one year. When those infected begin to show symptoms, they are offered an “antibody cocktail” produced by the company Regeneron. The study is part of a series of “unconventional” experiments in Oxford sponsored by the Wellcome Trust. Its representatives believe that the experiment can give scientists a lot of insight into the virus and the infection process.
Several countries are restricting the use of AstraZeneca’s UK-manufactured vaccine after regulators in the UK and continental Europe confirmed it can cause blood clots. Denmark had previously rejected the vaccine outright. Many countries have restricted the use of the British drug to older age groups. For example, in Australia, from April 8, it is recommended that people under the age of 50 not be vaccinated with the AstraZeneca vaccine. In the United Kingdom, it is recommended that patients under the age of 30 be offered an alternative. In Canada and France, it is not given to people under the age of 55, and in Estonia – under the age of 60.
The BBC was the first to visit AstraZeneca’s vaccine manufacturing facility in North Wales. We explain quickly, simply, and clearly what happened, why it matters, and what will happen next. The number of episodes should remain the same. End of story: Podcast Advertising. In Georgia, according to TASS, the AstraZeneca drug is used in limited quantities after the death of a 27-year-old nurse. However, there is a shortage of AstraZeneca’s vaccine in some regions of Canada. Ontario Premier Doug Ford has come under fire in recent weeks over the rising number of infections in the region. Ford claims that delays in vaccine delivery are to blame. Johnson & Johnson’s drug has also been linked by experts to blood clots, and its use has been suspended. Some countries, such as Poland, continue to use the Johnson & Johnson vaccine despite the risks. The European Medicines Agency (EMA) today announced a possible link between the use of Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine and the formation of blood clots, noting that rare cases of thrombosis are an immune response to the vaccine. The EMA recommended that a warning about this rare side effect be added to the vaccine information. “Healthcare workers and people who will use the vaccine should be aware of the possibility of very rare cases of blood clotting in combination with low platelet levels within three weeks after vaccination,” the EMA said. The American regulator should also make its decision on this matter. Earlier, in the European structure, it was noted that the number of cases of clot formation after 4.5 million vaccinations with the Johnson & Johnson vaccine is “extremely low”.
In the past 24 hours, 1761 patients infected with COVID-19 have died in India. The country is on lockdown, with several regions facing shortages of hospital beds, oxygen and medicine. The infection rate in the country is also at a record high – authorities reported 259 thousand new cases of coronavirus in the last day. This is the highest daily infection rate in the world. It has not fallen below 200 thousand for the past six days. Earlier, the former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Boris Johnson, canceled his visit to India scheduled for next week, and Britain added the country to the “red list”. Now, all those arriving in the UK from there will have to undergo quarantine in a designated hotel.
The U.S. State Department is planning to expand the list of countries to which it is not recommended to travel. Now it will include 80% of the world. Currently, the list of countries not recommended for travel includes only 34 states out of about 200 countries in the world, including Kosovo, Chad, Argentina and Russia. Such recommendations are mainly related to the risk of contracting coronavirus. The new State Department statement suggests that the list will be expanded to include about 130 more countries – the number needed to bring the list to 80% of the world’s nations.