A new study bolsters the prediction by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that the so-called B.1.1.7 variant will dominate Covid-19 cases by March.
The effects of the U.S. vaccination campaign may be starting to show up in the data. The number of confirmed coronavirus cases among nursing residents declined in each of the first three full weeks that vaccines were given in nursing homes, according to data that nursing homes report to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It’s not clear how much of that is because of vaccinations.
In Vermont, where 85 percent of people living in long-term care facilities have agreed to get at least their first shot of a vaccine, officials said this week that they were planning to soon ease visiting restrictions at these homes, though they have not set a date for doing so.
Which Covid Vaccine Should You Get? Experts Cite the Effect Against Severe Disease
Infectious disease doctors say getting a shot of the J&J vaccine, which has a lower efficacy against the virus than other vaccines, would still be well worthwhile.
Covid vaccinations in Santa Barbara County, Calif., this week.Credit.Daniel Dreifuss for The New York Times
At first glance, the results reported on Friday from the long-awaited trial of Johnson & Johnson’s coronavirus vaccine might have seemed disappointing. Its overall efficacy the ability to prevent moderate and severe disease was reported at 72 percent in the United States, 66 percent in Latin American countries and 57 percent in South Africa.
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How the Search for Covid-19 Treatments Faltered While Vaccines Sped Ahead
Vaccine development exceeded everyone’s expectations. But the next few months will still bring many sick people and doctors have woefully few drugs with which to treat them.
A makeshift I.C.U. at a hospital in Torrance, Calif, earlier this month.Credit.Mario Tama/Getty Images
Nearly a year into the coronavirus pandemic, as thousands of patients are dying every day in the United States and widespread vaccination is still months away, doctors have precious few drugs to fight the virus.
A handful of therapies remdesivir, monoclonal antibodies and the steroid dexamethasone have improved the care of Covid patients, putting doctors in a better position than they were when the virus surged last spring. But these drugs are not cure-alls and they’re not for everyone, and efforts to repurpose other drugs, or discover new ones, have not had much success.