These are the stories of the British coronavirus that you need to know today.
UK Government Agrees to Purchase More Moderna Vaccine Dose
Biotechnology company Moderna Announcement Today, it has applied for an emergency license in the United States and Europe for its COVID-19 vaccine candidate.
In the press release, the latest data show that the mRNA-1273 vaccine was 94.1% effective overall and 100% effective in severe cases.
No serious safety concerns were identified, he said.
It was the day after the British government said it had Sign the contract Purchase another 2 million more Modana vaccine candidates.
The total number of messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines given will be 7 million, which is sufficient for about 3.5 million people.
The government has pre-ordered 357 million vaccinations through agreements with multiple developers.
Kate Bingham, chair of the government’s Vaccine Task Force, said:
The deal was announced after Prime Minister Boris Johnson appointed Nadim Zahawi as Minister for the deployment of the coronavirus vaccine program over the weekend.
Comment on today’s announcement Science Media CenterDr. Pennyward, a visiting professor of pharmaceutical medicine at King’s College London, said: That is, various vaccines may soon be available worldwide.
“We need them all.”
Dr. Gillies O’Bryan-Tear, Chair of Policy and Communications at the School of Pharmaceutical Medicine, said: “Details of these results are awaited in public form, but we can assume that this vaccine will be approved for use in December.”
ICL studies suggest lower infection rates
COVID-19 infections in the United Kingdom were reduced by approximately 30% compared to the pre-blockade period. Preprint Of React-1 research.
The· Study from Imperial College London (ICL) and Ipsos MORI also showed that the overall R number also dropped to an estimated 0.88.
Of the 105,123 cotton swabs collected between 13 and 24 November, 821 were positive, with an estimated prevalence of 0.96%, 10,000 after adjusting the numbers to represent the UK population. There were 96 infections per.
Prevalence has declined in most parts of the country, especially in the northwest and northeast, and the number of people tested positive has been cut in half.
The West Midlands were the most infected in 1.55% of the population. In this region, and in East Midlands and London, there has been little change in infection since the last test.
The R number in London was the highest at 0.95.
Infection rates were reduced in most age groups, except for school-aged children with increased positive tests.
Ethnic minorities were more likely to be infected with the virus than whites, with Asians at greatest risk.
Professor Paul Elliott, ICL Program Director, said:
“These trends suggest that a gradual approach helped control infections in these areas, and that blockade was added to this effect.”
Kevin McConway, Professor Emeritus of Applied Statistics at The Open University, commented: “It’s important not to be too excited about these numbers. It’s certainly good news that the infection rates that have been increasing since the beginning of September show some. The signs of a decline again are very clear. But it hasn’t fallen that much yet. “
“The prevalence peaked a week or two before the blockade across the UK began on November 4,” said Mark Woolhaus, a professor of infectious disease epidemiology at the University of Edinburgh.th“He suggested that” R may have dropped further since the blockade began, but the measures taken before the blockade reduced the R number to about 1 or perhaps less than 1. “
The REACT 1 study tracks current cases of COVID-19 in the community by testing more than 150,000 randomly selected people each month for two weeks. Volunteers take their nose and throat swabs at home and analyze them in the laboratory using a technique called RT-PCR.
New Welsh blockade restrictions
Welsh pubs and restaurants are banned from selling alcohol and are forced to close at 6 pm every night.
Cinemas, bowling alleys, bingo halls and other indoor entertainment venues should also be closed.
Countermeasures, Announcement The first minister, Mark Drakeford, will come into effect this Friday at 6 pm.
He warned that the coronavirus was accelerating again across Wales, rising to 210 per 100,000 people.
“This wouldn’t be a’normal’Christmas,” Drakeford warned.
Delay in cancer research
Major advances in cancer research could be delayed by an estimated 17 months due to a pandemic, which is feared.
online Survey Of the 239 research staff conducted by the Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) from 22 to 29 September, respondents were found to have lost an average of 10 weeks of research time during the initial blockade.
They predicted that their own scientific progress would be delayed by an average of six months.
More than 9 out of 10 researchers said the biggest problems were laboratory closures and restricted access to facilities and equipment.
The average ICR researcher spent 53% of his work time in the lab before lockdown, but reduced to just 5% during lockdown. After the first blockade was over, the number rose again to reach 34%.
The effects of the pandemic affected morale, with 69% of researchers saying they were frustrated, 39% sad and 25% depressed.
Professor Paul Workman, CEO of ICR, said: “Our researchers predict that progress in their research will be delayed by six months, and the broader impact of scientific interrelationships will delay significant patient progress by nearly a year and a half.
“But our research provides solutions to mitigate the impact in the form of staffing, new technologies and investments in computing power. To do so, we receive generous donations for urgent appeal. And a commitment is needed. From the government to fill the funding gap for life sciences left by the pandemic. “
Anti-cancer therapy during blockade
Researchers found that the number of patients who started anticancer therapy in the UK fell by 32% in April after the start of the first coronavirus blockade.
However, treatment levels increased within 3 months, 15% higher than pre-pandemic levels. Survey To Lancet oncology..
Researchers at Imperial College London and University College London (UCL) compared April-June enrollments with the average enrollments over the last six months when cancer treatment was unaffected.
Researchers found that most of the return to pre-pandemic cancer treatment levels was in NHS England. “COVID-19 Rapid Guidance: Providing Systemic Anticancer Treatment”, Approved by the National Health Technology Assessment Organization.
Professor Allan Hackshaw of the Cancer Institute at UCL, who co-led the study, said:
“These changes include delays in surgery and radiation therapy, reduced outpatient visits (often replaced by telephone assessments), and, if possible, treatments that require intravenous administration in the clinic to home. Included a switch to oral medications that could be taken at. “
The impact on cancer treatment during the initial blockade was most pronounced with a 51% reduction in patients receiving chemotherapy and a 35% or greater reduction in patients who started immunotherapy.
Free Vitamin D for Care Home Residents
More than 2.5 million vulnerable people are offered free of charge across the UK Vitamin D Winter supplements, government Announcement On the weekend.
All care facilities automatically receive resident supplies, but individuals on the clinically very vulnerable list are invited to order supplies to be delivered to their homes.
Free delivery begins in January and lasts for 4 months.
Health Minister Matt Hancock said: “Many studies have shown that vitamin D can have a positive effect on protection from COVID-19. I asked NICE and PHE to review existing evidence on the link. We will definitely explore every potential opportunity to overcome this virus between COVID-19 and Vitamin D. “
The Ministry of Health said it will provide more information and guidance to all long-term care and home care home providers in the coming weeks.
The advice from PHE is to take 10 micrograms (400 IU) of vitamin D daily from October to early March to keep your bones and muscles healthy.
Experts Demand Relaxation of Coronavirus Restrictions for Toddlers
A group of experts argue that an urgent rethinking of infection policy is needed to control the incidence of SARS-CoV-2 and keep UK and other European primary schools open this winter. ..
Author of Opinion piece In the journal Archive of childhood illnessesRequire infection control measures in elementary schools that are different from those used in secondary education settings.
These include:
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There is no compulsory face cover for toddlers
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No need to separate the entire “bubble” after a single case at school
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The whole family does not have to be quarantined while waiting for the child’s test results
They claim that infants frequently experience respiratory tract infections each winter and that their symptoms often overlap with those of SARS-CoV-2. They say that the difficulty of getting a test and the delay in waiting for the results can affect the physical and mental health of the child.
They write: “The government proposes to adopt a more practical and evidence-based approach to primary schools, where the unintended consequences of an overly risk-averse approach are recognized.”
See more global coronavirus updates in Medscape’s Coronavirus Resource Center.
