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Israel’s coronavirus czar has warned that the first dose of the Pfizer vaccine offers less protection than expected, as he blamed the country’s surge in Covid cases partly on the new British variant. Nachman Ash said many Israelis had caught Covid in between their first and second doses of the Pfizer vaccine, suggesting that the first jab is “less effective than we thought,” according to Army Radio. His remarks underline the importance of receiving a second vaccine dose, which according to recent studies is more than 90 per cent effective in protecting against coronavirus. Israel has already given the first of two jabs to nearly 30 per cent of the population and on Tuesday announced it would extend eligibility to those aged 40 and over. But Mr Ash is said to have warned at a cabinet meeting that a new strain of Covid originating in Britain was hampering efforts to tackle the pandemic, as it was responsible for nearly 40 per cent of new cases. It comes after two studies by Israeli healthcare providers found that the first dose of the vaccine reduced the risk of infection by between 30 and 60 per cent.  And according to Israeli newspaper Haaretz, a survey by the health ministry found that around six per cent of 189,000 citizens who had received the first jab tested positive for Covid within two weeks. It also stated that 69 people from the sample had tested positive for coronavirus after receiving their second dose of the vaccine. Another study of a hundred people in Israel found that 98 per cent were protected from the disease once the second dose was administered. That research, carried out by the Sheba Medical Center, also said that a second dose of the Pfizer vaccine significantly refused the risk of spreading the virus to others.

In Britain, there is a gap of up to 12 weeks between receiving the first and second dose, whereas the WHO recommends the second dose of Pfizer is administered within 21-28 days. Israeli health experts have stressed that it is too early to draw any concrete conclusions from the data. This week, Israel published a partially redacted copy of a deal with Pfizer which has secured a steady supply of vaccines in return for the country sharing its medical data. Under the terms of that deal, Israel is expected to provide weekly updates on the number of vaccinations carried out with a breakdown by age and gender, as well as some demographic details. It is hoped that the data will help other countries plan their own inoculation strategies and provide some of the first conclusions on the effectiveness of the vaccines. Though the deal with Pfizer says patients cannot be identified by the data, there are some concerns in Israel that it could breach privacy rules. Israel hopes to have vaccinated most of the population by the end of March, though officials say they are in a race against the country’s third wave of coronavirus. The country is currently in lockdown and on Monday reported a record daily infection rate of 10,000 cases, the highest rate in Israel since the start of the pandemic.

As President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration nears, officials have boosted the number of National Guard members deployed in Washington, D.C., to 25,000 — an increase of 25 percent. Guard members have fanned out across the U.S. Capitol lawn, inside the building and in surrounding areas of D.C. for days. It’s an unprecedented security force, deemed necessary in the wake of a deadly riot at the Capitol and continuing threats of domestic terrorism. At least 7,000 National Guard troops from dozens of states are already on the ground in the nation’s capital, with more expected to arrive in coming days at the request of the Secret Service, said Army Gen. Daniel Hokanson, chief of the National Guard Bureau. The military security force will be more than three times the total number of U.S. troops currently deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan, reflecting heightened concerns after supporters of President Trump stormed the Capitol while lawmakers were certifying his loss in the Nov. 3 presidential election. Biden’s inauguration ceremony is slated to take place outside the Capitol on Wednesday. While there will not be the usual throngs of spectators, security officials from multiple law enforcement agencies are worried about online “chatter” that the FBI said points to the possibility of further violence from Trump supporters who believe, falsely, that the election was “stolen.” City officials are erecting a perimeter throughout downtown and putting up barriers around the White House, National Mall and Capitol. In order to travel through the perimeter, people will need to provide proof of essential purpose. Nick Note: To give you a perspective the Normandy D day invasion involved the landing of 24,000 American, British, and Canadian airborne troops 

• Sources had told Reuters Donald Trump planned to rescind travel bans for most non-U.S. citizens recently in Brazil and much of Europe starting on January 26
• But Biden’s team then said ‘we plan to strengthen public health measures’
• The U.S. restrictions barring most visitors from Europe have been in place since mid-March, while the Brazilian entry ban was imposed in May
• The Trump administration imposed the bans in a bid to contain COVID-19
• Nearly all air travelers will be required to present a negative coronavirus test or proof of recovery from COVID-19 to enter the US starting on January 26
  

Number of elderly people who died shortly after receiving the first dose of Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine in Norway has risen to 29, Bloomberg reported.

New York: Pfizer Inc and BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine appeared to work against a key mutation in the highly transmissible new variants of the coronavirus discovered in the UK and South Africa, according to a laboratory study conducted by the U.S. drugmaker. The not-yet peer-reviewed study by Pfizer and scientists from the University of Texas Medical Branch indicated the vaccine was effective in neutralizing virus with the so-called N501Y mutation of the spike protein. The mutation could be responsible for greater transmissibility and there had been concern it could also make the virus escape antibody neutralization elicited by the vaccine, said Phil Dormitzer, one of Pfizer’s top viral vaccine scientists. The study was conducted on blood taken from people who had been given the vaccine. Its findings are limited because it does not look at the full set of mutations found in either of the new variants of the rapidly spreading virus. Dormitzer said it was encouraging that the vaccine appears effective against the mutation, as well as 15 other mutations the company has previously tested against. “So we’ve now tested 16 different mutations, and none of them has really had any significant impact. That’s the good news,” he said. “That doesn’t mean that the 17th won’t,” Dormitzer noted another mutation found in the South African variant, called the E484K mutation, is also concerning. The researchers plan to run similar tests to see if the vaccine is effective against other mutations found in the UK and South African variants and hope to have more data within weeks. Scientists have expressed concern that vaccines being rolled out may not be able to protect against the new variants, particularly the one that emerged in South Africa. Simon Clarke, an associate professor in cellular microbiology at the University of Reading, said this week that while both variants had some new features in common, the one found in South Africa “has a number additional mutations” that included more extensive alterations to the spike protein. The Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine and the one from Moderna Inc, which use synthetic messenger RNA technology, can be quickly tweaked to address new mutations of a virus if necessary. Scientists have suggested the changes could be made in as little as six weeks. Nick Note: i suggest you get proactive in arranging your vaccine… Call, email, message and bug the shit out of your doctor and health agencies. I prefer by far the Pfizer vaccine. And for sure their will be a yearly booster shot. Here is the problem. The more people infected the more genetic mutations occur with the mutated virus becoming more and more contagious and deadlier. Being a life long antivaxier i changed my positions based on the facts. See i am never frozen in my opinions. I let the facts dictate my position. AND what tipped the scales in favor of taking the vaccine is the following. 15 million doses given with minuscule adverse reactions. And the deadly mutations. For me it was game set match. In the next 2 weeks i will be getting my second golden shot and i will advise you.

https://youtu.be/Mh2bFxqF2Hw

Joe Biden will sign a series of executive orders in his first days in office, attempting to roll back damage done at home and abroad by Donald Trump, whom the Democrat will replace as president on Wednesday. Biden, 78, has already outlined plans to send an immigration bill and a Covid stimulus and relief package to a newly Democratic-controlled Congress. On Friday he said he would shake up the delivery of vaccines against Covid-19, mired in chaos under Trump. Biden plans to return the US to the Paris climate accords and the Iran nuclear deal, overturn Trump’s travel ban against some Muslim-majority countries, restrict evictions and foreclosures under the pandemic and institute a mask mandate on federal property. In a memo released on Saturday, incoming White House chief of staff Ron Klain said: “These actions will change the course of Covid-19, combat climate change, promote racial equity and support other underserved communities, and rebuild our economy in ways that strengthen the backbone of this country: the working men and women who built our nation. “While the policy objectives in these executive actions are bold, I want to be clear: the legal theory behind them is well-founded and represents a restoration of an appropriate, constitutional role for the president.” The memo did not mention rejoining the World Health Organization, previously mentioned as a priority. Klain said subsequent orders would address “equity and support communities of color” and address criminal justice reform, access to healthcare and other priorities. Trump leaves office impeached twice, the second time over an attack on the US Capitol he incited and which left five people dead. The coronavirus pandemic is out of control, the death toll approaching 400,000, the caseload close to 24m. There were nearly 3,300 deaths on Saturday, according to Johns Hopkins University. The economy has cratered, unemployment rising steeply. Biden will enjoy Democratic control of both houses of Congress, if by a slender margin in the House and by Kamala Harris’s casting vote as vice-president in a 50-50 Senate. Nick Note: Full speed reverse. The Democrats roll into town with significant power and a mandate. I am not worried i got my greenie wienie electric computer battery cars (used) charged by solar panels….. And i have hidden the Super charged Hummer and corvettes