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The Washington Post
Coronavirus Updates
Important developments in the pandemic.
Marisa Iati By Marisa Iati
with Ben Guarino
Hello! I cover national and breaking news, which currently means writing a lot of coronavirus stories. I'm excited to contribute to this newsletter occasionally and keep you all up to date. The Post's coronavirus coverage linked in this newsletter is free to access from this email.
The latest
New strains of the coronavirus, including some believed to be highly contagious, have been drawing attention lately. One of those, a variant first identified in South Africa, has now been detected in two people in South Carolina with no travel history, suggesting that this strain has been spreading undetected in the community.
While the presence of more transmissible variants makes speedy vaccination even more crucial, the Biden administration acknowledged in its first coronavirus briefing on Wednesday that many people will still have to wait months to be inoculated. Advisers to the president said the ability to vaccinate more quickly is limited by vaccine supply and the capacity to get those shots into arms. The White House has taken a step to expand that capability by telling federal health officials to make it easier for doctors and nurses to help vaccinate.
For now, the spread of very contagious variants makes the same safety measures that we've been using throughout the pandemic even more important. Experts have increasingly started recommending an upgrade: Wearing two masks, one on top of the other, or even a fabric mask on top of a high-quality KN95 or N95 mask, which officials previously urged people to leave for health-care workers.
But the federal government hasn't revised its own recommendation about how many masks to wear. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggest using a well-fitted face covering with at least two layers of washable, breathable fabric. They also still advise against buying the surgical masks meant for doctors and nurses.
There's no way to know how long we'll need to wear face coverings, but the end isn't in sight quite yet. As a World Health Organization official put it Thursday, the global community faces a 'pandemic paradox.' “Vaccines on the one hand offer remarkable hope,' said Hans Kluge, regional director for Europe. 'On the other hand, newly emerging variants of concern are presenting greater uncertainty and risk.'
With roughly 2.2 million deaths worldwide, the vaccine stakes are high.
Other important news
An Oregon health official got stuck in a snowstorm for hours with six vaccine doses about to expire. So he and his team vaccinated other drivers stranded on the highway.
A team led by the WHO to investigate the origins of the coronavirus in China has finished its mandatory two-week quarantine in Wuhan. The mission had already been long-delayed amid disagreements about the nature of the inquiry.
Even with a lockdown and curfew in place, the highly contagious variant first identified in South Africa is overwhelming this country and exhibiting “terrifying” dominance.
Olympics officials still insist that the Tokyo Games will take place as scheduled in July, despite speculation otherwise.
Guide to the pandemic
- Track confirmed cases, hospitalizations and deaths in the U.S. and the spread around the world.
- U.S. vaccine distribution and delivery, tracked by state.
- FAQ: How do Biden’s new mask orders work?
- What you need to know about the virus variants
- Submit a question and we may answer it in a future story or newsletter.
Your questions, answered
“Would having three vaccine doses — two of one brand and one of the other — offer even more immunity?” — David in Florida
First things first: No one should be dashing to the nearest vaccination center to get a cocktail of vaccine brands. As the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention points out, the “safety and efficacy of a mixed-product series have not been evaluated.”
As for a third dose, there is not enough capacity in the United States, let alone other countries with far less supply, to get shots in the arms of everyone who wants one.
Mixing the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines is an option only in 'exceptional situations,' the CDC said recently. That's mainly to ensure everyone gets a second dose in a timely fashion. The agency's website cautions the 'vaccines are not interchangeable' (the bolding is theirs).
But the question of how multiple vaccines improve immunity is a good one: The two authorized brands use the same style of medical technology. Injections deliver genetic information, in the form of messenger RNA, which allows our own cells to churn out a harmless piece of coronavirus protein. Once our immune systems recognize the proteins, they will defend against future infections.
The second dose, the booster shot, helps prime immune recognition. As University of Manchester immunologist Tracy Hussell wrote in the Conversation: “A booster vaccination enhances the quality of the immune response and sends a reminder about the virus. It doesn’t matter if the vaccine used to prime the immune system is different from the one used to boost, as long as they both contain the critical viral protein.”
The third dose of either brand raises the issue of redundancy. At some point, additional priming of the immune system is no longer useful. If a person has already had two doses, the CDC does not recommend getting a third.
Hussell gave the example of someone who was in a vaccine trial and then received another shot: 'Your trial vaccination may have been so effective that the non-trial version of the vaccine isn’t necessary.'
Yet scientists investigate vaccine combinations 'all the time,' Icahn School of Medicine vaccine expert Florian Krammer told National Geographic: 'We use different vaccine platforms because, sometimes, we get interesting results.'
Diversifying boosters among vaccines will be an important area of medical research, particularly as new types emerge. Regulators expect to receive trial data from Johnson & Johnson's vaccine, which uses a different delivery method, as soon as next week.
Today’s top reads
Find more stories, analysis and op-eds about the pandemic on our coronavirus page.
Could domestic flights soon require a coronavirus test? Here’s what officials say.
By Shannon McMahon ● Read more »
The incredible story of how 1,700 handwritten cards came from across the world for a group of D.C. hospital workers
Perspective ● By Theresa Vargas ● Read more »
‘I was lucky to find this vaccine anywhere’
By Eli Saslow ● Read more »
Copper masks, pills and pain relief: Fact-checking wellness claims
By Allyson Chiu ● Read more »
The coronavirus is mutating. Will our vaccines keep up?
Opinion ● By John M. Barry ● Read more »
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By Marisa Iati with Ben Guarino
January 27th 2021
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