COVID-19 live updates: Total number of cases passes 91 million

01/12/2021 12:35 GMT — Russia to conduct clinical trial for “Sputnik-Light” vaccineOn Monday, Russian authorities declared that, in order to ensure COVID-19 vaccine doses reach enough people, they will test out a one-dose regimen of Sputnik V.Sputnik V is a COVID-19 vaccine developed by the Gamaleya Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology in Moscow, which was first approved for provisional use in Russia last fall.The experimental one-dose regimen is dubbed “Sputnik-Light,” and researchers are set to test it in 150 volunteers.In the meantime, Russia will continue to roll out the two-dose Sputnik V vaccination regimen.Russian officials have hinted that if the trial of Sputnik-Light is successful, they may make the modified vaccine available for export.According to Kirill Dmitriev, head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, which funds the new trial, “‘Sputnik-Light’ can serve as an effective temporary solution for many countries, which are experiencing a peak of coronavirus infection.”Read more here. The scientists suggest that even people who have had an asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection may be at increased risk of lasting effects on the brain.Scientists will need to run longer-term studies to see whether they can confirm this theory.Read our full analysis of the work here.01/08/2021 09:12 GMT — Pfizer study shows vaccine effective against new variantScientists recently identified two new strains of SARS-CoV-2 — one of which had been discovered in the United Kingdom and the other in South Africa. A new study concludes that the Pfizer–BioNTech vaccine should be effective against the U.K. variant.Find more on this story in our live vaccines update article.01/08/2021 08:54 GMT — Travelers to England will need to present negative COVID-19 testFrom next week, individuals traveling to England by boat, plane, or train will need to present a negative COVID-19 test on arrival. At some hospitals, ambulances are waiting hours to unload patients.On Monday, the state of California reported 72,911 COVID-19 cases, which is the highest number since the beginning of the pandemic.Read more here.01/05/2021 14:31 GMT — What is vaccine efficacy?Read the full feature here.01/05/2021 10:10 GMT — UK begins third lockdownYesterday evening, the United Kingdom’s prime minister, Boris Johnson, announced the U.K.’s third lockdown. It is a shame that the government do not take decisions in a more certain and timely manner.”The new lockdown will continue until mid-February.Read more here.01/05/2021 09:00 GMT — Is it ethical to continue COVID-19 vaccine trials?The recent authorization of two COVID-19 vaccines for emergency use in the United States poses an ethical dilemma for researchers conducting ongoing clinical trials. In a new feature, Medical News Today outline how the search for a vaccine progressed throughout 2020.Read the full feature here.04/01/2021 09:01 GMT— US might split Moderna vaccine doses in half to speed up rolloutUnited States officials have announced that the government is considering giving some people half doses of the Moderna vaccine to help speed up the vaccination rollout.Read more in our live vaccine update article.04/01/2021 08:55 GMT — UK begin rolling out AstraZeneca vaccineThis morning, officials in the United Kingdom began rolling out the COVID-19 vaccine designed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca. The FDA are expected to grant emergency use authorization by the end of the week.Read more in our live vaccine updates article.12/18/2020 09:09 GMT — NICE publish guidelines on vitamin D and COVID-19Yesterday, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) released a review of recent studies on vitamin D and COVID-19. Levels of burnout and sickness absence are likely to exceed those already experienced.”Read the editorial here.12/16/2020 09:01 GMT — How have we developed vaccines so quickly?As countries begin rolling out vaccines, Medical News Today spoke with a number of medical experts to learn how scientists have created COVID-19 vaccines so swiftly without compromising safety.Read the feature here.12/15/2020 14:49 GMT — Moderna vaccine draws closer to emergency use authorizationAccording to Food and Drug Administration’s reviewers, the Moderna vaccine is 95% effective. The FDA concluded that the “potential benefits [of the vaccine] outweigh the known and potential risks […].” The first shipments of the vaccine left FedEx and UPS facilities in Tennessee and Kentucky yesterday.Read more on this story here.12/14/2020 09:05 GMT — One-third of patients may experience ‘long COVID’A new study finds that 32% of people who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 were still experiencing at least one symptom 6 weeks after their tests. Seif Shaheen, from Queen Mary University of London, adds further context: “A major concern is that these findings may be confounded by socioeconomic status, given that individuals of higher status are more likely to take supplements and are also less likely to become infected with SARS-CoV-2.”Read MNT’s full coverage of the research here.12/11/2020 08:59 GMT — FDA experts recommend Pfizer-BioNtech vaccineYesterday, a panel of experts who advise the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommended that the organization should give the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine emergency approval. After controlling for underlying conditions and average neighborhood income, a new study shows that once Black patients are hospitalized, they are less likely to die of the disease than white patients.If confirmed, these findings support the idea that structural determinants of health account for a disproportionately higher rate of out-of-hospital COVID-19 deaths in in Black and Hispanic communities.Read MNT’s full coverage of the study here.12/10/2020 09:03 GMT — Smartphone-based device could detect SARS-CoV-2Scientists are developing a portable device that gives rapid, accurate test results with the help of a regular smartphone camera. Overall, the results show that the vaccine candidate protects against the symptomatic disease in 70% of cases.Read more in our live vaccines update article.12/09/2020 09:15 GMT — COVID-19 case on cruise shipAfter an 83-year-old passenger tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, a Royal Caribbean cruise ship departing from Singapore had to return to dock. As of Sunday, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency report that there are 8,311 people in quarantine, which is the highest number to date.Read more here.12/07/2020 09:51 GMT — ‘Clear, balanced information’ important for vaccine uptakeIn a recent editorial, David Phizackerley, the deputy editor of the journal Drug and Therapeutics Bulletin, argues that clear and balanced information on the efficacy and safety of the COVID-19 vaccines is important for ensuring their broad uptake.Find more detail in our live vaccine updates article.12/07/2020 09:46 GMT — Adapted yellow fever vaccine may protect against COVID-19A recent study concludes that a genetically altered yellow fever vaccine is highly effective in preventing SARS-CoV-2 infection in animals. If the results are encouraging, they will likely file for an emergency authorization from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).Visit our vaccine live updates article for more information.12/03/2020 08:53 GMT — Do SARS-CoV-2 mutations affect its transmissibility?A recent study analyzed samples of the SARS-CoV-2 genome from 46,723 people in 99 countries. The results appear in the journalNature Communications.Read MNT’s full coverage of the research here.12/02/2020 08:57 GMT — UK licenses vaccine against COVID-19 The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Authority (MHRA) in the United Kingdom have authorized the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine for emergency use. The U.K. has already purchased 40 million doses of the vaccine, and the first 10 million doses should arrive this month.Find more details in our live vaccine updates article.12/02/2020 08:52 GMT — Developing an equation to predict transmission ratesIn a recent study, scientists developed an equation that can help determine the likely number of people who would likely contract SARS-CoV-2 from a single person with the virus at different types of events. Jindrich Cinatl, from the Institute for Medical Virology at University Hospital Frankfurt, says, “Our findings show that aprotinin is effective against SARS-CoV-2 in concentrations that can be achieved in patients.”“In aprotinin, we have a drug candidate for the treatment of COVID-19 that is already approved for other indications and could readily be tested in patients.”Read our full coverage of the study here.11/26/2020 10:26 GMT — Scientists in the Netherlands plan ‘human challenge’ vaccine studyScientists from Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC) in the Netherlands are hoping to deliberately transmit SARS-CoV-2 to participants to test vaccine efficacy. Given the favorable stability seen for this vaccine, it has great potential to be delivered across the globe, achieving huge public health benefits.”Dr. Griffin was not involved with the study.Read more here.11/23/2020 09:49 GMT — Black, Hispanic people account for half of hospital deathsAccording to a recent analysis, in the first 6 months of 2020, 53% of deaths from COVID-19 in 88 hospitals across the United States were Black or Hispanic patients. The authors of the study, which investigated a number of COVID-19 interventions, conclude that “[r]emdesivir, [h]ydroxychloroquine, [l]opinavir, and [I]nterferon regimens appeared to have little or no effect on hospitalized COVID-19, as indicated by overall mortality, initiation of ventilation, and duration of hospital stay.”The authors of the recent BMJ update explain that, although they could not categorically state that remdesivir affords no benefit, “there is no evidence based on currently available data that it does improve patient-important outcomes.”Read more here.11/19/2020 10:31 GMT — Pfizer and BioNTech COVID-19 candidate vaccine 95% effectiveIn a press release, Pfizer and BioNTech have announced the results from their phase 3 clinical trial: their vaccine is 95% effective.