March 10 coronavirus news

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is continuing to collect data on the safety of Covid-19 vaccines in pregnant women through its registry called V-safe, Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said during a White House briefing on Wednesday.

Additionally, Fauci said that Pfizer and BioNTech have launched their randomized, placebo-controlled study to evaluate safety and immunogenicity in pregnant people.

During the briefing, Fauci was speaking in reference to "special populations" for which there is still limited data around Covid-19 vaccine safety. Such populations also include children and immunocompromised individuals, such as HIV-positive patients. Fauci said that people with HIV should get vaccinated.

For pregnant women, "the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology, ACOG, recommends that vaccines of SARS-CoV-2 should not be withheld from pregnant individuals, and that pregnant individuals may choose to receive a Covid-19 vaccine and they should have a conversation with their clinicians," Fauci said. SARS-CoV-2 is the name of the virus that causes Covid-19.

A webpage for the CDC's V-safe registry for pregnant women notes: "There is currently no evidence that antibodies formed from COVID-19 vaccination cause any problem with pregnancy, including the development of the placenta. However, data are limited about the safety of COVID-19 vaccines for people who are pregnant."

The European Medicines Agency is on track to approve the Johnson & Johnson vaccine this month, Poland’s Health Minister Adam Niedzielski said Wednesday. This comes as Poland warns its third wave of coronavirus is "accelerating."

The country has recorded 17,260 new Covid-19 cases in the past 24 hours, the health ministry reported Wednesday.

That's the highest since the beginning of the third wave of the epidemic, Health Ministry spokesperson Wojciech Andrusiewicz told private Polish TV channel TVN24. He added that over 67% of hospital beds for coronavirus patients are full.

Ukraine has approved use of China’s Sinovac Covid-19 vaccine, Ukraine’s Deputy Health Minister Igor Ivashchenko said in a statement on Wednesday.

Sinovac is now the third vaccine to be approved in Ukraine for emergency use after AstraZeneca’s and Pfizer/BioNTech’s vaccines were previously registered. Ukraine started its vaccination campaign in February. 

One vaccine that Ukraine has refused to consider is that of their neighboring country –Russia’s coronavirus vaccine Sputnik V – despite an increasingly urgent situation in the country. 

Ukrainian officials have recently said the country has entered a third wave of coronavirus, seeing increasing numbers of infections and hospitalizations. 

Ukraine has registered over 1.4 million Covid-19 cases and 28,925 deaths from the disease, according to Johns Hopkins University data. 

The US, Canada and Mexico are seeing a drop in coronavirus cases while nearly every state in Brazil is seeing an increase in cases over the last week, according to the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO).

As of this week, the Americas overall have reported "nearly 52 million cases of coronavirus and 1.2 million deaths from Covid-19, with more than a million of these cases reported in the last week," PAHO Director Carissa Etienne said in a briefing Wednesday.

Brazil reported its deadliest day since the pandemic began, with 1,910 Covid-related deaths reported in 24 hours. It also had the second-highest rate of infections.

In the Caribbean, most larger islands are seeing a drop in cases, but in Cuba cases are rising.

In Central America cases are generally down but parts of Guatemala and Panama's indigenous province of Guna Yala are reporting an increase.

In South America, Paraguay, Uruguay and Chile are reporting increases but Peru and Bolivia, which have been hit especially hard by the pandemic, are finally seeing lower cases.

Preliminary data shows that the coronavirus variant first identified in New York, B1526, “is a more infectious variant" and coupled with the variant first identified in the UK, accounts for 51% of all cases in New York City at present, city health officials said Wednesday.

Preliminary analysis indicates that the B1526 variant first identified in New York, “is probably more infectious than older strains of the virus,” Varma said. “It may be similar in infectiousness to the B117, the UK strain, but we're not certain about this yet.”

The variant identified in New York in particular “is increasing in prevalence across New York city, representing about 39% of all samples sequenced by the pandemic response lab” compared to 31% the week prior, according to New York City Health Commissioner Dave Chokshi. “The increasing prevalence suggests the B1526 variant is a more infectious variant.”

Varma notes preliminary analysis does not show that the variant first identified in New York causes more severe illness or reduces the effectiveness of vaccines.

“It’s important to emphasize of course this is preliminary” he said as the city works with the state and health officials across the country.

A couple weeks ago, two separate teams of researchers said they found a worrying new coronavirus variant in New York City and elsewhere in the Northeast that carries mutations that help it evade the body's natural immune response — as well as the effects of monoclonal antibody treatments.

The new recommendations for fully vaccinated people mark the first step toward a return to pre-pandemic life, but some precautions are still essential, the director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and colleagues wrote in a JAMA Viewpoint article published Wednesday.

The CDC released long-awaited guidelines Monday, offering limited freedoms for people who have been fully vaccinated against Covid-19.

The team notes that more than 31 million people – 9.4% of the total population – have completed a vaccination series. These people now have a reduced risk of severe illness or death from Covid-19.

“In addition, preliminary but rapidly increasing evidence suggests that fully vaccinated people likely pose little risk of transmission to unvaccinated people,” Walensky and colleagues write.

In creating the guidelines, the CDC considered the risks to both vaccinated and unvaccinated people. As many people remain unvaccinated, public health precautions are still important, they note.

“CDC guidance will evolve as vaccination coverage increases, disease dynamics in the country change, and new data emerge,” the team writes. “With high levels of community transmission and the threat of SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern, CDC still recommends a number of prevention measures for all people, regardless of vaccination status.”

The agency still recommends all people wear masks, avoid large gatherings and postpone travel. It also stresses the importance of community-level prevention strategies, such as universal mask mandates and occupancy restrictions.

“Once vaccinated people make up a greater proportion of the general US population, these community-level restrictions will be readdressed, but not yet,” the team wrote.

While Covid-19 vaccines offer a path toward ending the pandemic, increasing vaccine access and confidence is essential, Walensky and colleagues note.

Texas restaurant owner Mike Nguyen wants his business open but he is also battling cancer. He says that by lifting the statewide mask mandate, Gov. Greg Abbott has put him, and many others like him, in danger.

Nguyen say he will only allow customers who wear masks to dine at his establishment. Since masks are a really divisive topic, he doesn’t expect everyone to adhere to it and that means his business will not bounce back 100%.

“And my biggest thing is if we have another surge and we get a setback, my business may not survive this,” he added.

Before the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will “liberalize” its guidance for fully vaccinated people, it’s watching for coronavirus case increases and waiting for evidence about whether protection is fading among people who were vaccinated early on, CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky told ABC's Good Morning America.

When asked why vaccinated people shouldn’t travel, as CDC guidelines currently suggest, Walensky said there has been a surge in virus cases every time there’s a surge in travel.

Walensky said that the CDC was waiting for data and evidence about whether people who were vaccinated early on, in December and January, should be concerned about their protection fading.

“We are not suggesting that people who are vaccinated can go out and take off their masks and do things in public settings, gather in big gatherings,” Walensky added. “Really, we’re taking baby steps to make sure that we can still protect the 90% of people who aren’t yet vaccinated.”

It's just after 10 a.m. ET in the US where vaccination efforts continue across the country and the House is expected to vote on a Covid-19 relief plan that includes direct payments to Americans.

Here's what you need to know about the pandemic to get up to speed this morning: