Moderna issues warning about new Covid variations in midst of global surge

Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel stated in an interview on Thursday that there is a 20% risk that new Covid versions would be more harmful than the ones now known, amid a new spike in several nations across the world. “I believe there’s an 80% likelihood that the variations we’ll see in the future will be manageable in terms of severity and vaccine manufacturing.” “But I believe we should always be extremely careful, because there’s a 20% risk that something extraordinarily nasty arises in some of the new variations,” he told Bloomberg Television. Several European nations, including France, Germany, and Italy, have seen an increase in Covid cases.

Here are the most recent updates on worldwide Covid cases:

1. With 2,96,498 new Covid cases, Germany’s total tally increased to 1,98,93,028. According to the news agency Reuters, more than 1.28 lakh people have perished in the European country so far; 288 have died since Thursday.

2. On Thursday, France added 148,635 new Covid patients; 112 patients died. Another European country where a new increase has been concerning.

3. In Italy, 81,811 new Covid cases were registered, up from 76,260 the previous day.

4. The United Kingdom, where a new surge of patients has been observed, is administering a fourth dosage to the susceptible population, joining other nations such as Israel in doing so. According to fresh data from the UK’s Health Security Agency released on Thursday, a booster dose of vaccination continues to give significant protection against hospitalisation for older adults nearly four months after receiving the third dosage.

5. The EU medicines authority has authorised AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 preventive combination. According to the news agency AFP, it can be used for people who have immune system difficulties or have had severe responses to prior coronavirus vaccinations.

6. In China, there was a decline in instances on Thursday, with 1,366 cases (down from 2,054 the day before), although asymptomatic cases are thought to be on the rise.

7. In Shanghai, Covid cases increased by more than 60% in a single day to a record 1,609.

8. China has recorded a new wave after two years of putting pressure on the “dynamic clearing” technique targeted at reducing COVID-19 infections. The spike is thought to be caused by the BA.2 Omicron variant.

9. South Korea is another Asian nation that had a significant increase in March.
10. Experts in the United States have warned of an increase in instances similar to those seen in Europe.