COVID-19 News from Around the Web

Johnson & Johnson said Friday that its single-dose Covid-19 vaccine reduced rates of moderate and severe disease, but the shot appeared less effective in South Africa, where a new coronavirus variant has become common. Overall, the vaccine was 66% effective at preventing moderate to severe disease 28 days after vaccination. But efficacy differed depending on geography. The shot was 72% effective among clinical trial volunteers in the U.S, but 66% among those in Latin America, and just 57% among those in South Africa. Though markedly below the levels seen with the first two authorized Covid-19 vaccines, those rates are above the thresholds originally set by the FDA for a vaccine to be considered useful. The vaccine reduced severe disease alone by 85%, and prevented Covid-related hospitalization or death, Johnson & Johnson said.

A Covid-19 vaccine from Novavax proved nearly 90% effective in preliminary results from a key clinical trial in the United Kingdom, the company said, but in a separate trial appeared far less effective against a new variant of the coronavirus that was first identified in South Africa. In its 15,000-volunteer U.K. trial, Novavax said, the vaccine prevented nine in 10 cases, including against a new strain of the virus that is circulating there. But in a 4,400-volunteer study in South Africa, the vaccine proved only 49% effective.

The mutated version of the virus, first identified in South Africa, was found in two cases in South Carolina. Public health officials said it’s almost certain that there are more infections that have not been identified yet. They are also concerned that this version spreads more easily and that vaccines could be less effective against it. The two cases were discovered in adults in different regions of the state and do not appear to be connected. Neither of the people infected has traveled recently, the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control said Thursday.

For the second week in a row, new cases and COVID-19 hospitalizations dropped nationally—17 percent for cases and 10 percent for hospitalizations—though cases and hospitalizations remain much higher than at any point before the fall/winter surge. … Reported deaths rose 7 percent this week, with states reporting a total of 22,797 lives lost to COVID-19. …Even with cases falling across the United States, we may have another week or more of very high death numbers to come.

New York state’s health department may have undercounted the COVID-19 death toll in state nursing home residents by as much as 50%, according to a report released by the state attorney general’s office on Thursday. The report, issued while the state prosecutor’s office continues to investigate nursing homes’ response to the COVID-19 pandemic, indicated that some facilities underreported deaths to the state health department. It also found that the health department did not count the deaths of nursing home residents who were transferred to and died in hospitals in some cases.

Irritated by the sweeping use of executive orders during the COVID-19 crisis, state lawmakers around the U.S. are moving to curb the authority of governors and top health officials to impose emergency restrictions such as mask rules and business shutdowns. The push is underway in such states as Arizona, Michigan, Ohio, Maryland, Kentucky, Indiana and Pennsylvania, where legislators are seeking a constitutional amendment to strip the governor of many of his emergency powers.

The discovery of highly transmissible coronavirus variants in the United States has public health experts urging Americans to upgrade the simple cloth masks that have become a staple shield during the pandemic. The change can be as simple as slapping a second mask over the one you already wear, or better yet, donning a fabric mask on top of a surgical mask.

Severe cases of Covid-19 might impact the quality of a man's sperm, thus possibly impacting his fertility, according to a new study published Thursday in the journal Reproduction. … However, experts not involved in the study were immediately skeptical about the report's conclusion and urged caution in overgeneralizing the research findings.

Currently, about eight-in-ten Americans say strengthening the nation’s economy (80%) and dealing with the coronavirus outbreak (78%) should be top priorities for the president and Congress to address this year. Two-thirds (67%) rate improving the job situation as a top priority.