While vaccines are being administered internationally, the Covid-19 pandemic continues to affect countries around the globe, with the number of confirmed cases worldwide now surpassing 125 million, with over 2,757,000 deaths worldwide, and the United States continuing to have the most confirmed cases and deaths in the world.
A BBC story said, “Science is winning the race between coronavirus and the vaccine, Pfizer’s UK medical director has said.
“Dr Berkeley Phillips told BBC News NI it was important people were “allowed to start living again”.
“While the main threat continues to come from new variants, Pfizer is already designing an updated vaccine that will work, he said.
“Dr Phillips said “incredible progress” had been made in the past year and “we’re winning that race”.
“If you look at what’s happening in the UK there are dramatic reductions in the death rate, dramatic reductions in hospitalisations and in the number of cases,” he said.
“I do think we have to start living again.
“It’s obviously down to the governments of the devolved nations to decide exactly the right approaches – science is only one part of the decision making and that’s why these decisions are so difficult.”
A CNN story said, “Researchers said Thursday they have found evidence that coronavirus infects the mouth, including inside the cheeks, in the gums and in salivary glands.
“Their findings, detailed in the journal Nature Medicine, may explain why so many people infected with coronavirus lose their sense of taste. They also suggest the mouth is an important source of spread of the virus.
“When infected saliva is swallowed or tiny particles of it are inhaled, we think it can potentially transmit SARS-CoV-2 further into our throats, our lungs, or even our guts,” said Dr. Kevin Byrd of the American Dental Association Science and Research Institute, who worked on the study.
“It’s known that saliva testing is a good way to detect coronavirus infection, but researchers hadn’t looked to see why. The mouth, nose, sinuses, throat and lungs are all connected, and the virus can spread across all those regions in mucus that drains or is coughed up.”
