COVID-19 has killed more than 430,000 Americans, and infections have continued to mount despite the introduction of a pair of vaccines late in 2020. USA TODAY is tracking the news. Keep refreshing this page for the latest updates. Sign up for our Coronavirus Watch newsletter for updates to your inbox, join our Facebook group or scroll through our in-depth answers to reader questions.
Johnson & Johnson’s one-shot vaccine protects against COVID-19 but not as effectively as others already being used in the U.S., data released Friday from the company shows.
Johnson & Johnson said its late-stage trial in the U.S. and seven other countries showed an overall 66% effectiveness in its vaccine in preventing moderate to severe illness. It was also 85% effective against severe disease across all regions studied, the company said, and its effectiveness against severe disease increased over time with none of the vaccinated volunteers reporting severe disease more than 49 days after vaccination.
The vaccine also worked better in the U.S., with 72% effectiveness against moderate to severe COVID-19, while it showed only 57% effectiveness in South Africa, where a more rapidly spreading variant of the virus is more prevalent.
The two-shot vaccines, Moderna's and Pfizer's, are more than 94% effective, but the company's global research chief, Dr. Mathai Mammen, said, "Gambling on one dose was certainly worthwhile."
The J&J vaccine has been described as a "game-changer" in the campaign against the virus because it is a single dose regimen compared to all the others, which call for double doses. It also does not need to be kept frozen, allowing it to be distributed through normal vaccine supply chains without the need for new, expensive equipment.
The news comes after interim results study released Thursday from Novavax, a Gaithersburg, Maryland-based biotechnology firm, showed its COVID-19 candidate vaccine to be safe and roughly 90% effective against the virus.
Novavax released data from two clinical trials of its two dose candidate vaccine, one in the United Kingdom and another in South Africa.
The South African variant Thursday reached the U.S., identified in South Carolina.
There is no evidence infections from the variant cause more severe disease, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a statement, adding that "preliminary data suggests this variant may spread more easily and quickly than other variants." There's also concern vaccines might be less effective against this variant.
But, there's still good news: early safety data from the first month of COVID-19 vaccination finds the shots are as safe as the studies suggested they'd be.
In the headlines:
►New U.S cases of the coronavirus have fallen 35% from their Jan. 11 peak, a USA TODAY analysis of Johns Hopkins University data shows. The average number of daily cases has fallen to about 162,000, from 249,000. And there are positive signs for hospitalization: The COVID Tracking Project said Wednesday that about 107,000 Americans were hospitalized because of the virus Tuesday, down from a peak of more than 130,000 three weeks ago.
►The Pentagon says it is reviewing a request from the Federal Emergency Management Agency for military troops to help set up 100 vaccination sites across the country.
►New York may have undercounted COVID-19 deaths among nursing home residents by thousands, according to a new report from the state attorney general.
►Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, who made clear in December that he would wait his turn to receive a COVID-19 vaccination, was quietly vaccinated last week at the recommendation of medical personnel, his office said.
►The Georgia Department of Public Health imposed a six month vaccine supply suspension Wednesday on a main rural county provider that’s been vaccinating educators, against current state guidelines, WSB-TV reported.
►A Florida fire captain turned himself in to face charges in connection with the alleged theft of COVID-19 vaccines, asking a local paramedic to obtain the vaccine for his elderly mother.
►German health minister Jens Spahn said he expects the European Union’s drug regulator to authorize a coronavirus vaccine made by AstraZeneca on Friday, but it may not be recommended for people over 65 because of insufficient data.
►United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is calling attention to the wide disparity in distribution of COVID-19 vaccines, referring to it as a “global emergency” and saying less than 20,000 of the 70 million doses so far administered have gone to people in African countries. Guterres warned against “vaccine nationalism,” pointing out the coronavirus will inevitably mutate if it continues circulating in parts of the globe.
? Today's numbers: The U.S. has more than 25.7 million confirmed coronavirus cases and more than 433,000 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University data. The global totals: More than 101.4 million cases and 2.19 million deaths. About 48.4 million vaccine doses have been distributed in the U.S. and 26.2 million have been administered, according to the CDC.
? What we're reading: With the Biden administration seeking to vaccine 1.5 million people each day, mass vaccination clinics are popping up in California and New York, among other places. They'll soon become common across the U.S. Read the full story.
How COVID-19 is shaping the Super Bowl
An NFL season like no other will conclude Feb. 7 with Super Bowl 55, which will be unprecedented in many ways itself.
A few ways Super Bowl week and Super Sunday will be far different during a pandemic:
- The Tampa Bay Buccaneers will be the first team to host a Super Bowl in their own stadium, but only 22,000 fans will be allowed to attend.
- The traditional Super Bowl week kickoff event, known originally as "Media Day" but lately as "Opening Night," will be drastically altered Monday. To begin with, there will be no media. All interviews will be done via Zoom with just nine players from each team instead of full rosters.
- The Chiefs are not expected to be on site until next Friday or Saturday. Super Bowl teams usually spend a week at the host city – practicing, conducting interviews at media events and dispersing into the community.
– Nate Davis
WHO team visits Wuhan hospital that had early COVID-19 patients
The World Health Organization team investigating the origins of the coronavirus visited a Wuhan hospital Friday where Chinese officials say the first COVID-19 patients were treated more than a year ago.
The long-awaited WHO mission has become politically charged, and it may take years determine the origins of the virus, requiring extensive testing and analysis.
Team members from the WHO and Chinese officials met earlier at a hotel as they prepared for a series of field visits in and around Wuhan in the coming days.
“First face to face meeting with our colleagues. Correction: facemask to facemask given the medical restrictions,” Dutch virologist Marion Koopmans tweeted in the morning.
Pain relief medications OK to treat COVID-19 vaccine side effects
Avoid pain relief medications before getting the COVID-19 vaccine, but they are "perfectly fine" to take after, experts say.
Normal side effects of the COVID-19 vaccine include headache, fever, body aches and chills, and to minimize the discomfort, some Americans may turn to pain relievers such as acetaminophen or ibuprofen.
Studies on how the medications could have impact on the effectiveness of the vaccine are sparse and inconsistent, but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization both recommend against the preventive use of pain relievers, though allow them if symptoms develop after.
In a study published in the peer-reviewed Journal of Virology, researchers found nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs such as ibuprofen can reduce the production of antibodies and impact other aspects of the immune response to SARS-CoV-2, the virus that cause