A new study out of the U.K. found Covid-19 antibodies provide some immunity against the virus for at least five months. The study, which surveyed thousands of British health care workers, was conducted before new, highly transmissible variants of the virus were detected in the U.K., South Africa and most recently the United States. Still, it helps fill in a key detail on the scientific timeline of infection, recovery and immunity that could prove critical in containing the virus. The study has not yet been peer-reviewed, and its authors caution the conclusions are preliminary analysis.
Biden advisor says releasing most vaccine doses won’t cause people to miss second shots
The Biden administration’s plan to release nearly every available dose of Pfizer’s and Moderna’s coronavirus vaccines shouldn’t cause issues with people getting their second shot on time, a member of President-elect Joe Biden’s Covid-19 advisory board said.
“That’s not something we’re too worried about,” Dr. Celine Gounder told the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health during a webcast. “If you look at the timeline for production, they are actually going to be releasing more and more doses over time, so that really does open things up significantly.”
The Trump administration on Tuesday adopted Biden’s plan to release most of the doses it had held back for the second round of shots of Pfizer’s and Moderna’s two-dose vaccines.
Gounder said that the Bidenadministration still plans to keep “a small buffer” of doses in reserve.
“What we’re saying is we’re not going to be holding back second doses of vaccine. We’re going to be releasing nearly all with a small buffer leftover because we want to accelerate the pace at which vaccinations is going,” she said.
