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CORONAVIRUS

Experts warn against COVID-19 variants as states reopen

NEW YORK (AP) — As states lift mask rules and ease restrictions on restaurants and other businesses because of falling case numbers, public health officials say authorities are overlooking potentially more dangerous COVID-19 variants that are quietly spreading through the U.S. Scientists widely agree that the U.S. simply doesn't have enough of a handle on the variants to roll back public health measures and is at risk of fumbling yet another phase of the pandemic after letting the virus rage through the country over the last year and kill nearly 500,000 people. "Now is not the time ...

Minnesota gives anxious people tool to connect with vaccine

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Minnesota rolled out a new online tool Thursday to help anxious residents learn when and where they can get vaccinated against the coronavirus. Gov. Tim Walz announced the launch of the free "Minnesota COVID-19 Vaccine Connector" as part of the state's strategy for getting people vaccinated as supplies slowly become available. Minnesota is currently vaccinating health care workers, long-term care residents and staff, teachers and school staff, child care workers, and people age 65 and over. "This tool is available to all of us, right now, to help us better ...

Senate vote to reopen schools lays out partisan divide

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Minnesota Senate approved a renewed Republican attempt Thursday to rescind Gov. Tim Walz's emergency authority to close schools, a sign of the continuing deep partisan divisions over how state government should respond to the coronavirus pandemic. The GOP-controlled Senate passed the bill 40-27, with four Democrats and two independents siding with Republicans, one day after the Democratic governor announced a plan to speed up the return of students to school for in-person classes. The vote was largely symbolic. The Democratic-controlled House rejected a ...

COVID-19 shots might be tweaked if variants get worse

The makers of COVID-19 vaccines are figuring out how to tweak their recipes against worrisome virus mutations — and regulators are looking to flu as a blueprint if and when the shots need an update. "It's not really something you can sort of flip a switch, do overnight," cautioned Richard Webby, who directs a World Health Organization flu center from St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. Viruses mutate constantly and it takes just the right combination of particular mutations to escape vaccination. But studies are raising concern that first-generation COVID-19 vaccines don't work ...

Average new US virus cases below 100K for 1st time in months

ATLANTA (AP) — Average daily new coronavirus cases in the United States dipped below 100,000 in recent days for the first time in months, but experts cautioned Sunday that infections remain high and precautions to slow the pandemic must remain in place. The seven-day rolling average of new infections was well above 200,000 for much of December and went to roughly 250,000 in January, according to data kept by Johns Hopkins University, as the pandemic came roaring back after it had been tamed in some places over the summer. That average dropped below 100,000 on Friday for the first ...

UK hits target: Gives at least 1 vaccine shot to 15 million

LONDON (AP) — The U.K. announced Sunday that it had reached its goal of giving at least one COVID-19 vaccine shot to the most vulnerable people in the country, increasing pressure on ministers to clarify when they will ease a lockdown imposed in early January. More than 15 million people, or 22% of the U.K. population, have received their first shot. The figure includes most people in the government's top four priority groups, including everyone over 75, frontline healthcare workers and nursing home staff and residents. Over 537,000 of them have also received their second ...