What you need to know about the coronavirus right now

Kintor Pharmaceutical

14/05/2021 06:28

May 14 (Reuters) - Here's what you need to know about the
coronavirus right now:
    
    India's COVID cases top 24 million 
    The number of recorded COVID-19 infections in India climbed
above 24 million on Friday amid reports that the highly
transmissible coronavirus mutant first detected in the country
was spreading across the globe.
    The situation is particularly bad in rural areas of Uttar
Pradesh, India's most populous state with a population of over
240 million. Television pictures have shown families weeping
over the dead in rural hospitals or camping in wards to tend the
sick.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2N106L
    
    Singapore tightens curbs on social gatherings, dining
    Singapore announced on Friday the strictest curbs on social
gatherings and public activities since easing a COVID-19
lockdown last year, amid a rise in locally acquired infections
and with new coronavirus clusters forming in recent weeks.
    The new measures announced by the health ministry, which
will be effective from Sunday to mid-June, include limiting
social gatherings to two people and ceasing dining in at
restaurants. The authorities said they will review the measures
after two weeks to assess if adjustments are needed.
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2N117T    
    
    Fully vaccinated people can begin shedding masks -U.S. CDC 
    The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on
Thursday advised that fully vaccinated people do not need to
wear masks outdoors and can avoid wearing them indoors in most
places, updated guidance the agency said will allow life to
begin to return to normal. 
    The CDC, which hopes the guidance will prod more Americans
to get vaccinated, also said fully immunized people will not
need to physically distance in most places. CDC Director
Rochelle Walensky said the new guidance was based on a sharp
reduction in cases, expansion of vaccines to younger people and
vaccine efficacy against coronavirus variants.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2N0243    
    
    Delayed 2nd Pfizer shot produces more antibodies, study says
    Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine generates antibody responses
three-and-a-half times larger in older people when a second dose
is delayed to 12 weeks after the first, a British study said.
    The study, which has not yet been peer-reviewed, looked at
175 people aged between 80 and 99, and found that extending the
second dose interval to 12 weeks increased the peak antibody
response 3.5-fold compared to those who had it at three weeks.
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N2N03LK     
        
    Top scientists question the need for COVID-19 booster shots
    COVID-19 vaccine developers are making ever bolder
assertions that the world will need yearly booster shots, or new
vaccines to tackle worrying coronavirus variants, but some
scientists question when, or whether, such shots will be needed.
    In interviews with Reuters, more than a dozen influential
infectious disease and vaccine development experts said there is
growing evidence that a first round of global vaccinations may
offer enduring protection against the coronavirus and its most
worrisome variants discovered to date.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2N015A

 (Compiled by Karishma Singh; Editing by Kenneth Maxwell)
 ((Karishma.Singh@thomsonreuters.com;))