California officials are calling for 3,000 temporary medical workers to help handle the state’s high levels of COVID-19 patients. As of Thursday, the state only had about one-third of the temporary workers they say they need. A volunteer program is proving unsuccessful after 95,000 people originally raised their hands but only 14 are now in the field due to qualifications.
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The study by Pfizer and the University of Texas Medical Branch, which has not yet been peer-reviewed, suggests the pharmaceutical giant’s vaccine would work against the highly transmissible mutation first found in the UK. Another variant found in South Africa, called the E484K mutation, has not been examined yet.
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New York State surpassed one million cases of coronavirus on Saturday. According to the New York State Health department, 15,074 new COVID-19 cases were confirmed on Friday. The 15,074 new cases of COVID-19 brought the total number in New York State to 1,005,785.
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Police have arrested a hospital pharmacist in Grafton, Wisconsin, for allegedly destroying 57 COVID-19 vaccine vials (more than 500 doses) by “intentionally” removing the vials from the pharmacy’s refrigerator. Authorities are still investigating the possible motive.
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Colorado Governor Jared Polis confirmed Tuesday that a man in his 20s with no travel history has tested positive for the new COVID-19 strain B.1.1.7, which was first identified in the UK. The affected individual is in isolation for recovery while officials conduct contact tracing.
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In the final World Health Organization (WHO) COVID-19 press conference of the year, on Monday, senior officials warned that the virus is “not necessarily the big one”, and that there is a real chance of another, more serious pandemic spreading across the world.
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On Sunday morning, the first shipment of COVID-19 vaccines were packed into trucks, departing for distribution from Pfizer’s manufacturing facility near Kalamazoo, Michigan. The vaccines, shipped by FedEx and UPS, are expected to arrive in all 50 US states on Monday.
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The US Food and Drug Administration approved an emergency use authorization for the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine on Friday, clearing the way for the distribution of the drug across the country.
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A year after the COVID-19 pandemic began in Wuhan, China, the United Kingdom has been the first western country to start Pfizer-BioNTech vaccinations.
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Former US presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton have volunteered to get their COVID-19 vaccines on camera once it’s been deemed safe by the Food and Drug Administration in an effort to gain trust from Americans who are hesitant about the vaccine’s safety. “I promise you that when it’s been made for people who are less at risk, I will be taking it,” Obama said. “I may end up taking it on TV or having it filmed, just so that people know that I trust this science.” The United Kingdom announced a major step in its race
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