60 Black Health Experts Urge Black Americans to Get Vaccinated – NYT

Dr. LaVeist is a medical sociologist and the dean of the School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine at Tulane University. Dr. Benjamin is a physician and the executive director of the American Public Health Association. They are among 60 Black health experts who have signed on to this Op-Ed.

South Africa pauses AstraZeneca vaccine rollout amid variant COVID questions – CIDRAP

South Africa recently received 1 million doses of AstraZeneca-Oxford COVID-19 vaccine and was poised to start vaccinating healthcare workers, but yesterday, health officials announced a pause for the rollout to investigate early findings that it offered little protection against mild-to-moderate disease caused by the B1351 variant strain that’s dominant in the country.

Mapping Which Coronavirus Variants Will Resist Antibody Treatments – NIH Director’s Blog

You may have heard about the new variants of SARS-CoV-2—the coronavirus that causes COVID-19—that have appeared in other parts of the world and have now been detected in the United States. These variants, particularly one called B.1.351 that was first identified in South Africa, have raised growing concerns about the extent to which their mutations might help them evade current antibody treatments and highly effective vaccines.

California has the most coronavirus-related deaths in the U.S., surpassing New York – New York Times

Dozens of times a day in Covid-19 wards across California, a scene like this plays out: A hospital chaplain watches as a death is announced by machine.

Dr. Fauci: Variants reveal COVID-19 vaccination as global job – AMA

The battle against the COVID-19 virus heats up as vaccine distribution grows but according to Biden Administration advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci, mutant strains of virus and limited vaccine distribution pose continuing risks.

With hospitals overrun, Mexicans fighting the virus at home face a deadly hurdle: a lack of oxygen tanks – NYT

When a second wave of the coronavirus slammed into Mexico this winter, demand for oxygen exploded, spawning a national shortage of devices that deliver the lifesaving resource.

WHO Discounts Idea that SARS-CoV-2 Leaked from a Lab – The Scientist

An investigation by the World Health Organization into the origins of COVID-19 will instead focus on the virus’s animal origins and the possibility of spread through frozen foods.

South Africa’s hope of imminent relief crumbled after reports of a vaccine’s ineffectiveness – NYT

A million doses of the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine had been shipped recently to South Africa from India. The first injections were set for Wednesday. After weeks of rich countries vaccinating doctors and nurses against the coronavirus, a respite from the anxiety and the trauma seemed to be nearing in South Africa, too.

Low Covid Infection Rates Seen in Daycare, French Study Finds – Bloomberg

Children and staff at French daycare centers that stayed open during the country’s first national lockdown had low rates of Covid-19, according to a study that gives some support to efforts to reopen preschools and other educational settings.

‘Oh, we’re still in this.’ The pandemic wall is here. – Washington Post

The 42-year-old, who lives in Sycamore, Ill., had mostly kept it together for the past 11 months. She’d been holding things down at her marketing job, making sure her two kids were logged in for virtual school and keeping her family clothed and fed and virus-free.