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Christy Zahrt receiving the Pfizer vaccine at California State University, Northridge, in Los Angeles on Tuesday.Credit.Allison Zaucha for The New York Times
The Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine is extraordinarily effective at protecting against severe disease caused by two dangerous variants, according to two studies published Wednesday.
The studies, which are based on the real-world use of the vaccine in Qatar and Israel, suggest that the vaccine can prevent the worst outcomes including severe pneumonia and death caused by B.1.1.7, the variant first identified in the U.K., and B.1.351, the variant first identified in South Africa.
“This is really good news,” said Dr. Annelies Wilder-Smith, an infectious disease researcher at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. “At this point in time, we can confidently say that we can use this vaccine, even in the presence of circulating variants of concern.”
The Biden administration on Wednesday came out in support of waiving intellectual property protections for Covid-19 vaccines, a breakthrough for international efforts to suspend patent rules as the pandemic rages in India and South America. The United States had been a leading opponent of a proposal at the World Trade Organization to suspend intellectual property protections in an effort to ramp up vaccine production. But President Biden had.
California Reaches More Reopening Milestones
Wednesday: The state is reopening, but some regions aren’t moving as quickly as others. Also: A bear hits the recall campaign trail.
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Starting on Thursday, Los Angeles County officials said, bars will be able to reopen indoors at limited capacity.Credit.Allison Zaucha for The New York Times
Good morning.
Not long ago, it seemed almost unfathomable that coronavirus cases in Los Angeles would soon be low enough to warrant lifting some of the nation’s toughest pandemic rules. Restaurants were ordered to close their outdoor operations. Hospitals were overwhelmed. Even driving to the grocery store was deemed risky.
“I told them, what am I supposed to do?” he said. “How are we supposed to make a living? Buy a house and start a family? How?”
Like many people interviewed for this article, Mr. Delesbore spends a lot of time online. He is hungry to make sense of the world, but it often seems rigged and it is hard to trust things. He is especially suspicious of how fast the vaccines were developed. He used to work at a factory of the drug company Sanofi, so he knows a bit about the process. He believes there is a lot that Americans are not being told. Vaccines are just one small piece of the picture.