President Biden's chief medical adviser, Dr. Anthony Fauci, expressed sympathy for single people trying to enjoy Valentine's Day during the pandemic in an interview with "Axios on HBO," saying it would be stressful and frustrating to date while social distancing and trying to stay safe.
Fauci said he and his wife planned a quiet Valentine's Day dinner at home alone, but he empathized: "It would be really frustrating to essentially semi-isolate yourself at a time when you're trying to explore social interactions with people. That leads to a considerable amount of stress and maybe even depression on the part of some people."
Vice President Harris told mein a backstage conversation for "Axios on HBO" that the Trump administration had "no stockpile" of vaccines upon leaving office.
The big picture: "There was no national strategy or plan for vaccinations, we were leaving it to the states and local leaders to try and figure it out," Harris told me at the White House after leading a virtual COVID event with African-American mayors.
A recent study by Israel’s largest healthcare provider found that after both doses of the Pfizer vaccine, people are 94% less likely to have symptomatic COVID-19 infections and 92% fewer cases of severe illness due to the virus, Reuters reports.
Why it matters: Israel has been rapidly vaccinating its population, and the new study underscores how effective the vaccine is, as the data nearly matches Pfizer's Phase three clinical trial that showed the vaccine to be 95% effective.
There were 13 different strains of the coronavirus in Wuhan, China in December 2019, World Health Organization scientist Peter Ben Embarek told CNN in an exclusive interview.
Why it matters: Data gathered during the WHO scientists' first trip to investigate the origins of COVID-19 could point to an outbreak that was more widespread than previously understood.
On the next episode of “Axios on HBO”, Axios managing editor Margaret Talev interviews NIAID director Anthony Fauci about vaccine distribution and the federal response to the virus.
Catch the full interview and much more on Sunday, February 14 at 6 p.m. ET/PT on all HBO platforms.
China on Sunday accused the U.S. of "pointing fingers," following a statement from the Biden administration alleging that Beijing may have meddled into the World Health Organization's probe into the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic.
What they're saying: "What the U.S. has done in recent years has severely undermined multilateral institutions, including the WHO," China wrote in a statement from its embassy in D.C. It added that the U.S. has "gravely damaged international cooperation on COVID-19."
Open-source the vaccines. That's the message being sent by the People's Vaccine Alliance, a coalition that includes Amnesty International, Oxfam, and UNAIDS.
Why it matters: Manufacturing capacity needs to be scaled up dramatically — and cutting out the need for laborious, expensive and secretive negotiations with vaccine patent holders could help.
Studies show the coronavirus variant first detected in the United Kingdom is "likely" more lethal than the original strain, scientists with the British government said in an assessment released Friday.
A European company is pioneering a bloodless way for people with diabetes to monitor their glucose levels.
Why it matters: More than 5% of the global population is affected by diabetes, and the number is set to keep rising. A more seamless monitoring system would make it easier for people with diabetes to manage their conditions and avoid disastrous health outcomes.
