COVID-19 News from Around the Web

So-called variants are spreading, carrying mutations that make the coronavirus both more contagious and in some cases more deadly. Even as vaccines were authorized late last year, illuminating a path to the pandemic’s end, variants were trouncing Britain, South Africa and Brazil. New variants have continued to pop up — in California one week, in New York and Oregon the next. As they take root, these new versions of the coronavirus threaten to postpone an end to the pandemic. At the moment, most vaccines appear to be effective against the variants. But public health officials are deeply worried that future iterations of the virus may be more resistant to the immune response, requiring Americans to queue up for regular rounds of booster shots or even new vaccines.

The UK's medicines regulator has said that at least 30 people in the United Kingdom have experienced rare types of blood clots after receiving the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, but warned it was too early to know whether the shot itself triggered the clots. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) said in a statement late Thursday it received 22 reports of cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST), where clotting forms in the sinuses that drain blood from the brain, and eight other reports of thrombosis, out of a total of 15.8 million people who had been given at least one dose of the vaccine by March 21. A breakdown of the MHRA's CVST data showed four people had died, but the agency did not immediately respond to CNN's questions to confirm whether there had been fatalities.

A new vaccine for Covid-19 that is entering clinical trials in Brazil, Mexico, Thailand and Vietnam could change how the world fights the pandemic. The vaccine, called NVD-HXP-S, is the first in clinical trials to use a new molecular design that is widely expected to create more potent antibodies than the current generation of vaccines. And the new vaccine could be far easier to make. Existing vaccines from companies like Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson must be produced in specialized factories using hard-to-acquire ingredients. In contrast, the new vaccine can be mass-produced in chicken eggs — the same eggs that produce billions of influenza vaccines every year in factories around the world.

For the second year in a row since the onset of the pandemic, Pope Francis delivered an Easter blessing and speech in a scaled-back ceremony on Sunday. During the event — held in St. Peter's Basilica with notably fewer people in attendance than before the pandemic — the pope repeated his call for broad access to COVID-19 vaccines across the world. "Everyone requires assistance and has the right to have access to necessary care," Francis said. "This is even more evident in these times where all of us are called to combat the pandemic, and vaccines are an essential tool in this fight." He added that the vaccines and their distribution should be international and spread throughout the poorest countries.

Jessamyn Smyth hopes that two shots in the arm may be what finally delivers her from a year in which the lasting effects of Covid-19 wreaked chaos in her life. Smyth says that after coming down with an acute infection in March 2020, she continued experiencing a constellation of health issues. For months, she has suffered from breathlessness, irregular and rapid heartbeat, diarrhea, and unusual skin rashes. Like many "long haulers," Smyth's fatigue was a constant "knock-down-pass-out-for-15-hours pathological exhaustion," she explained in an email to CNN…. But then she got her vaccine. Within a couple of weeks, her fatigue and cognitive issues were "noticeably better," she said. Her rashes were gone. And after her second Pfizer dose, on February 24, her symptoms kept improving.

Experts are warning parents against sharing breast milk which they believe may contain COVID-19 antibodies. The FDA says it recommends against acquiring breast milk directly from individuals or through the internet. The danger or worry is some people may have been exposed to infectious diseases, some illegal drugs or prescription drugs. Still, some are taking the risk in hopes to protect their babies from the pandemic.

The U.S. moved closer Thursday toward vaccinating 100 million Americans in a race against an uptick in COVID-19 cases that is fueling fears of another nationwide surge just as the major league baseball season starts and thousands of fans return to stadiums. More than 99 million people have received at least one dose of the vaccine, and more than 56 million people — 17% of the nation’s population — have been fully vaccinated, according to data from the CDC.

All 50 states have announced when they plan to open up coronavirus vaccinations to everyone eligible under FDA emergency use authorizations -- if they haven't done so already. … A dozen other states already also have expanded coronavirus vaccine eligibility to anyone 16 and older. And several states that previously announced plans to open up vaccine eligibility by early May have changed their timelines to open up in late March or early April.

Last month, job growth accelerated as declining new COVID-19 cases and broadening vaccine-conferred immunity helped more businesses reopen with greater capacity. The unemployment rate unexpectedly improved to 6.2%, improving significantly from the pandemic-era high of 14.8%, but holding still well above the 50-year-low of 3.5% from February 2020.

The acting head of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy said Thursday that drug deaths spiked dramatically during the pandemic, up roughly 27% compared with the previous year. "We lost 88,000 people in the 12-month period ending in August 2020," Regina LaBelle told reporters during a morning briefing. "Illicitly manufactured fentanyl and synthetic opioids are the primary drivers of this increase." That number, based on provisional data collected by the CDC, is sharply higher than the figure reported by the CDC as recently as last December.

The United States may not need AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine, even if it wins U.S. regulatory approval, Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease doctor told Reuters on Thursday. The vaccine, once hailed as another milestone in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, has been dogged by questions since late last year, even as it has been authorized for use by dozens of countries, not including United States…

The former first lady, Oscar winner Matthew McConaughey and "Hamilton" creator and star Lin-Manuel Miranda will appear in the hourlong special "Roll Up Your Sleeves," airing April 18 on NBC. The special TV event aims to raise awareness and encourage the American public to get vaccinated so we can put an end to the COVID-19 pandemic.

COVID-19 was the third underlying cause of death in 2020 after heart disease and cancer, the CDC confirmed on Wednesday. A pair of reports published in the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report sheds new light on the approximately 375,000 U.S. deaths attributed to COVID-19 last year, and highlights the pandemic's disproportionate impact on communities of color … deaths related to COVID-19 were higher among American Indian and Alaskan Native persons, Hispanics, Blacks and Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander persons than whites.

The ongoing Phase 3 clinical trial of Pfizer/BioNTech's coronavirus vaccine confirms its protection lasts at least six months after the second dose, the companies said Thursday. It's the first look at how long protection for a coronavirus vaccine lasts, and while six months is a modest target, it's longer than the 90 days of protection been the best estimate offered to date. The vaccine remains more than 91% effective against disease with any symptoms for six months, the companies said. And it appeared to be fully effective against the worrying B.1.351 variant of the virus...

The CDC has officially released its coronavirus guidance ahead of Easter Sunday, advising those who are taking part in the celebration to do so virtually and avoid travel, if possible. Those who are fully vaccinated against the novel disease, however, may gather together without face masks, the federal agency said.

As more older Americans get vaccinated an increasing number of new COVID-19 cases are impacting younger adults, prompting warnings that Americans remain vigilant in an effort to prevent more people from becoming sick. … And for the first time, the majority of new hospitalizations have been younger adults, with cases among people ages 50-65 increasing more than those older than 65, who are more likely to have been vaccinated.