Coronavirus Watch: COVID research could yield other disease breakthroughs
The billions of dollars invested in COVID-19 research are expected to yield medical and scientific dividends for decades.
Building on the success of mRNA vaccines for COVID, scientists hope to create mRNA-based vaccines against a host of pathogens, including influenza, Zika, rabies, HIV and respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV.
Before we get to today's news, please note: After today, we'll be sending Coronavirus Watch twice a week, on Mondays and Thursdays. We appreciate your readership and are honored to be able to continue sharing important stories with you.
It's Thursday, and this is Coronavirus Watch from the Paste BN Network. Here's more news to know for the middle of your week:
- White House COVID-19 response coordinator Jeff Zients is stepping down from his position next month following a year of leading U.S. efforts to address the pandemic, according to a statement from The White House.
- Canada's minister of health announced the country would no longer require fully vaccinated travelers to show a negative pre-departure coronavirus test to enter the country starting April 1.
- Irish President Taoiseach Micheál Martin tested positive for COVID-19 while at a White House St. Patricks' Day event Wednesday, but he was not in close contact with President Biden.
Pandemic classroom lessons learned. Many thought we’d be done with pandemic-related remote learning by fall 2021. We’re not. When will schools return to “normal” operations? Many educators, parents and students think the answer should be never. Read the full story from our Restoring America edition here.
See our COVID-19 resource guide here. See total reported cases and deaths here. On vaccinations: About 76% of people in the U.S. have received at least one vaccine shot, and about 65% are fully vaccinated, according to the CDC.
– Cady Stanton, Paste BN digital editor fellow, @cady_stanton