Coronavirus: Vaccine Booster Shots in Development to Target Covid Variants

Описание: About 735 cases of a coronavirus variant that emerged in New York City in November have now been identified in the U.S., including 585 in the last two weeks, a federal health official said.

The mutation has traveled extensively through the metropolitan New York region, and individual cases have also been found in 14 other states, including Texas, Wyoming and Maryland, according to Gregory Armstrong, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advanced Molecular Detection Program.

The variant, known scientifically as B.1.526, likely started off in the Washington Heights section of Manhattan, Anthony Fauci, a top medical adviser to President Joe Biden, said in a Monday news briefing. It is one of five concerning variants now being tracked nationally by health officials.

The vast majority of cases involving the New York variant have been confirmed in the New York and New Jersey area, Armstrong said in a Monday interview. Though the variant could be more transmissible than the original Covid-19 strain, it is “relatively limited geographically right now,” he said.

Recent research suggests B.1.526 needs to be closely watched “for its ability to evade both monoclonal antibody and, to a certain extent, the vaccine-induced antibody,” said Fauci, who also heads the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

“It’s something we take very, very seriously,” Fauci said.

Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://bit.ly/2TwO8Gm

Bloomberg Quicktake brings you live global news and original shows spanning business, technology, politics and culture. Make sense of the stories changing your business and your world.

To watch complete coverage on Bloomberg Quicktake 24/7, visit http://www.bloomberg.com/qt/live, or watch on Apple TV, Roku, Samsung Smart TV, Fire TV and Android TV on the Bloomberg app.

Have a story to tell? Fill out this survey for a chance to have it featured on Bloomberg Quicktake: https://cor.us/surveys/27AF30

Connect with us on…
YouTube:    / bloomberg  
Breaking News on YouTube:    / bloombergquicktakenews  
Twitter:   / quicktake  
Facebook:   / quicktake  
Instagram:   / quicktake