Author: FASHIONISLANDBLOG

There’s a reason why a new, more contagious variant of SARS-CoV-2 appeared first in the UK: The country does a lot of viral genetic sequencing. Since the start of the pandemic, researchers in the UK have uploaded 151,859 individual SARS-CoV-2 sequences to GISAID, an international platform for sharing viral genomic data. That’s the highest number…

Scientists are increasingly concerned about a rapidly spreading variant of the virus that causes Covid-19 that was first detected in South Africa. The variant may be more transmissible and could weaken protection from vaccines and prior infections. There’s evidence from several small, and not-yet-peer-reviewed, studies that mutations in the South Africa variant — known as…

Since December, a handful of fortunate end-of-day shoppers have received coveted doses of the coronavirus vaccine by simply being in the right place at the right time. That place, during a pandemic, could be a Safeway or a Walgreens. Some of these recipients are young and healthy adults, and have likened their surprise immunization to…

THE GPA HAVE backed Antrim’s bid to have their Ulster SFC opener against Cavan played at Corrigan Park next month.  The Saffrons were drawn first out of the hat for the 23 April clash, handing them their first home championship game in nine years. But an Ulster county board meeting last week saw delegates vote…

People who are pregnant are now eligible to get the coronavirus vaccine in more than 40 states — typically ahead of their lower-risk peers. And more than 60,000 of them have already rolled up their sleeves, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Although the Covid-19 vaccines authorized in the US were not…

The rapid spread of new variants of the coronavirus, some of which seem to be more contagious than older versions, has experts in the US calling for stricter social distancing and better masking to avoid yet another big surge of new Covid-19 cases and deaths. Health advocates and epidemiologists are particularly concerned about what will…

THE TWO SIDES beaten in the 2021 All-Ireland series by the eventual champions Tyrone, met in Tralee on Saturday night. Kerry and Mayo both entered the game unbeaten in the league to date, and while the spoils went to the home team, both remain in the top two spots in Division 1. Part of the…

President Joe Biden on Thursday set a new goal for Covid-19 vaccines in the US: 200 million shots in his first 100 days in office. That’s up from Biden’s original goal of 100 million in 100 days. “I know it is ambitious — twice our original goal,” Biden said. But the goal of 200 million…

July 4 this year could also be America’s Independence Day from Covid-19. At current rates, America is administering nearly 2.8 million Covid-19 vaccine doses a day — roughly enough to vaccinate every adult (18 and older) in the country by July 4. That would mean 80 percent of the population would be able to get…

It’s been nearly a year since Julie Horowitz-Jackson’s mother, Arlene, died of Covid-19 in a nursing facility in Philadelphia. “What hit me recently is that the world is opening back up, and my mom’s still dead,” Horowitz-Jackson says. At this point in the Covid-19 pandemic, as vaccines get rolled out in the United States and…