The latest on the coronavirus pandemic and vaccines

Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota.

A lack of information and financial support has left US states struggling to manage a slow Covid-19 vaccine rollout,?Michael?Osterholm,?director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, said Friday.

Around the US, those eligible to receive the Covid-19 vaccine are reporting that they are struggling to access it.

Osterholm said states don’t have the information or resources needed to plan for vaccinations.

It’s not just the states that have been left in the dark, said Osterholm, who served as a member of President Joe Biden’s transition coronavirus advisory board.

“I can just say that having been part of the team that we never saw a plan that was written in even one page of a plan that came from the Trump administration about this,” he said. “That’s not a partisan comment. That’s just the truth.”

A resident receives a mandatory Covid-19 test by a health worker at a testing site in the Jordan area of the Yau Tsim Mong district of Kowloon in Hong Kong, on January 22.

Hong Kong is imposing a temporary lockdown on residents in coronavirus hotspots – a first in the city’s battle against Covid-19.

In a statement released early Saturday, the Hong Kong government made a?“restriction-testing declaration”, which requires residents from parts of the bustling neighborhood of Jordan to stay in their premises and undergo compulsory testing arranged by the government.?

Jordan, in the Kowloon peninsula, is a dense and thriving urban area with high-rise apartments, businesses and restaurants. The lockdown area includes Temple Street, home to the iconic night market popular with tourists.?

Residents from buildings in the designated area will be prohibited from leaving their homes until testing has been completed. The government says the compulsory testing is expected to take 48 hours.?

Hong Kong’s Secretary for the Environment, Wong Kam-sin, said in a news conference Saturday that water from the pipes of several buildings in the area was being tested to ascertain whether the coronavirus is spreading through sewage.?

In a separate statement Saturday, the Hong Kong government announced that roads in the “restricted area” would be closed to traffic.?

Hong Kong recorded 61 new Covid-19 on Friday, including 55 local transmissions.?

President Biden’s coronavirus advisers are confident more vaccine is coming, Dr. Vivek Murthy, who is the nominee for Surgeon General, said Friday.

The transition team started speaking with companies making the vaccines to try to get an idea of how much supply was really available and how quickly production could be stepped up, Murthy told a webcast sponsored by the US Conference of Mayors.

“We’ve been deeply involved in conversations with the companies on a very regular basis and those were conversations that, frankly, started even before the election to try to understand just more closely what the supply was, what the challenges were, what the roadblocks were to getting even more supply accelerated, what the potential failure spots would be that we need to look out for and plan for,” Murthy said.

“And part of what we’ve talked about also is the importance of making that data as clearly available and transparent so that mayors and the general public can also see a lot of what we’re seeing as well, can have some confidence about what the supply looks like over the coming weeks.”

State and local leaders want and need to know, so they can plan, he said.

“One of the most clear pieces of feedback that we got from governors and echoed by mayors as well was that they needed more information on when the supply was coming. They needed more than four or five days notice, that they needed ideally several weeks notice so they can plan accordingly and set up their operations, and we heard that loud and clear,” Murthy said.

“So, I think what you will see in the coming weeks is a greater focus on that transparency around supply so that you have a better sense of what we’re seeing, and also so that you have a sense of what supply also will be coming to your state over the coming weeks. “

Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms speaks with CNN on Friday, January 22.

Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms told CNN Friday night that she receives calls from people “desperately looking for the vaccine” daily.

Bottoms said the city is currently vaccinating their?public safety personnel and will next move onto sanitation workers, but residents who qualify are having a difficult time accessing doses of the vaccine.?

“I’m just not seeing an abundance of vaccine,” Bottoms told CNN.

The mayor explained that the metropolitan area of Atlanta didn’t receive as much as she thought it should when compared to more rural areas.?

The mayor said she and other mayors are hopeful the new White House administration may be able to help with distribution issues.

“I am very hopeful?the leadership from the White House that we now have that there will be more coordination and the vaccine will be widely distributed in the communities that need it most,” Bottoms said.

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The first positive case of the Covid-19 variant detected in South Africa has been confirmed in Panama, Ministry of Health officials announced in a statement Friday.?

“This is a 40-year-old passenger, born in Zimbabwe, who entered the country on January 5 from South Africa and had previously made a stop over in the Netherlands before arriving in Panama,” the statement said.

After testing positive, the patient was kept in isolation, complying with Panama’s protocol, according to the Ministry of Health.

To date, Panama has registered at least 4,944 deaths related to Covid-19 and about 305,752 confirmed cases.

The Miami Heat announced that beginning Jan. 28, a limited number of fans will be in attendance at Heat home games.

The?Heat will adopt many of the policies?that other sports organizations have used to allow fans to attend games, but they’ve added one very unique extra: Covid-19 detection dogs.

How it works: A specially trained dog will screen every fan in line before continuing with the entry process to the American Airlines Arena.

Other policies include the standard mandatory mask policy, physical distancing, and no food service.

Staff and volunteers distribute the Covid-19 vaccine on Tuesday, January 19, in Inglewood, California.

At the current rate Los Angeles County is receiving its doses of the coronavirus vaccine, it would take up to a year to vaccinate all of its adult residents, Dr. Paul Simon, L.A. County chief science officer for the Department of Public Health, said in a briefing Friday.

The county has an extremely limited supply of doses and is expected to receive only 150,000 doses next week, Simon said. At this rate, “the vaccination efforts will likely extend well into 2022.”

If allocations double, vaccinations for adults in Los Angeles County could be completed by the end of 2021, he added.

By the numbers: As of Thursday, at least 441,000 doses of the vaccines have been administered in the county.

With the lower number of doses arriving next week, Simon said he expects the county’s mass vaccination sites to be operating at less than max capacity and provide about 2,000 to 2,400 doses of the vaccine a day.

According to a news release from the public health department, the county “has only received enough vaccination supply to inoculate 1 in 4 people who are currently eligible.”

Simon said that two million people in the county are currently eligible for the vaccine, which includes about 800,000 health care workers and 1.3 million residents who are 65 years and older.

He repeatedly asked residents for their patience as the county continues to work hard to get more people vaccinated.

Los Angeles County on Friday reported 9,277 new cases of the virus and 256 additional deaths.

The public health department said the amount of new cases this week are “considerably lower,” with a 30% decrease in the seven-day average of daily cases from last week. The test positivity rate has also dropped to 12.7% from 20.8% on Jan. 1, a 39% drop in three weeks.

To date: Los Angeles has a total of 1,054,802 confirmed cases and 14,894 deaths. With over 10 million residents, Los Angeles County is the most populous county in the nation.

Publix has expanded its Covid-19 vaccination efforts to nearly 400 locations across three states, according to statement from the grocery store and pharmacy chain.

Publix is currently offering Covid-19 vaccinations in three out of seven states where they operate stores. That includes 108 locations in Georgia, 42 locations in South Carolina and 242 locations in Florida.

As an example of overwhelming demand, Brous said new appointments became available in Florida on Friday morning. The open 48,900 appointment slots were taken in less than three hours. At any given time, 300,000 users were in the online waiting room, attempting to schedule an appointment.

Brous said the Publix website has not crashed since appointments first became available.

Brous told CNN that there is uncertainty in the consistency and quantity of vaccine shipments they will receive. As a result, Publix does not add appointment availability until a new shipment has arrived and the doses have been verified. An announcement is then made one day ahead of any new appointments becoming available online.

Publix works with each state’s governor on which areas to serve, and eligibility and residency requirements.??

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson speaks during a coronavirus press conference at 10 Downing Street on January 22, in London.

The coronavirus variant first identified in the UK “may be associated with a higher degree of mortality” in infected patients, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Friday during a news briefing at Downing Street.

“I must tell you this afternoon that we’ve been informed today that, in addition to spreading more quickly, it also now appears that there is some evidence that the new variant – the variant that was first identified in London and the South East – may be associated with a higher degree of mortality,” Johnson said.?

Researchers are still looking at the data and there is still a lot of uncertainty.

Patrick Vallance, the UK government’s chief scientific adviser, said it looks like the variant is more deadly when looking at the total population that becomes infected.

“If you took somebody in their 60s — a man in their 60s — the average risk is that for 1,000 people who got infected, roughly 10 would be expected to, unfortunately, die with the virus. With the new variant, for 1,000 people infected, roughly 13 or 14 people might be expected to die,” he said.

Vallance said the increase in risk would affect all age groups.

This evidence comes from several groups in the UK that found an increased risk of death for people infected with the variant compared to people infected with other forms of the coronavirus. In four analyses cited by a government advisory group, these estimates ranged between roughly 1.3 and 1.9 times higher risk of death. At least one analysis among hospitalized patients did not.

The advisory group, known as NERVTAG, concluded there is a “realistic possibility” that variant is linked to a higher risk of death. However, the researchers said the absolute risk of death for an individual remains low, and more data will be needed to provide definitive proof. For example, in some cases the data came from less than 10% of all deaths reported.

Vallance stressed that “there’s a lot of uncertainty around these numbers and we need more work to get a precise handle on it. But it obviously is of concern that this has an increase in mortality, as well as an increase in transmissibility, as it appears of today.”

He noted that when it comes to patients who are hospitalized with Covid-19, there is not an increased risk of mortality.

“When we look at data from hospitals, so patients who are in hospital with the virus, the outcomes for those with the original virus or the new variant look the same,” he said.

UK Prime Minister Johnson said “both the vaccines we’re currently using remain effective both against the old variant and this new variant.”

The?US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported on Friday that 1.6 million more vaccines have been given out, the biggest single-day increase yet reported.?

The CDC data showed how more than 19 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine have been administered in the US, about 48% of the nearly 40 million doses that have been distributed.

What you need to know: States have 72 hours to report vaccine data, so data published by the CDC may be delayed – and may not necessarily mean all doses were given on the day reported.

The number of administered doses reported this week was 22% higher than last week.

About 5% of the US population – about 16.2 million people – has received at least one dose of the vaccine, and about 2.8 million people are fully vaccinated.

Nineteen police officers have tested positive for coronavirus two weeks?after the Capitol riot, the union representing Capitol Police said Friday.

“The union was advised there are 19 confirmed positive cases since Jan 6th, ” Gus Papathanasiou, chair of the United States Capitol Police Labor Committee, said in an email to CNN.?

The union could not confirm that all 19 were on duty the day of the attack.

Health officials have worried that the mass of largely unmasked people, many shouting and pushing, would result in the spread of the virus. Several police officers were directly assaulted.

“I do think you have to anticipate that this is another surge event. You had largely unmasked individuals in a non-distanced fashion, who were all through the Capitol,”?former US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director Dr. Robert Redfield said in a previous interview with the McClatchy newspaper group.

At least four members of Congress have also tested positive for coronavirus after the attack earlier this month.

The total number of coronavirus cases recorded in France since the beginning of the pandemic surpassed the three million mark Friday, according to data from the National Health Agency.

There have been at least 3,011,257 coronavirus cases since the pandemic started.

On Friday, a further 23,292 cases were recorded, as well as at least 649 additional deaths over the last 24 hours, bringing the total death toll to at least at least 72,647.?

The French government has outlined its objective to bring the daily number of new cases down to 5,000 as a precondition to lifting coronavirus restrictions. Speaking on Tuesday, Health Minister Olivier Véran said the current infection rate is “both high and relatively stable,” with “around 20,000” cases a day.

The UK government cannot consider lifting national lockdown measures while rates of infection and hospital admissions remain “so very high,” Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Friday.

“We really can’t begin to consider unlocking until we’re confident that the vaccination program is working, until we’re confident that we don’t have new variants or changes in our understanding of the virus,” Johnson said.

“We think this is the right package of measures to deal with the new variant and we don’t want to change them. What we want to see is people enforcing them and people obeying them, that’s the crucial thing,” he added.

Speaking during a news briefing at Downing Street, the prime minister noted that “some signs of flattening in the data” have been observed, but warned that the number of infections is “still very high” across the country.

“We’ve got to be in a position where the rate of infection is not still so high, and it’s very high right now,” he added.

On Friday, the UK reported 40,261 additional coronavirus cases, bringing the total number of cases recorded in the UK since the pandemic began to at least 3,583,907.

The Spanish Health Ministry reported Friday that at least 1,411 people have died in the past week from coronavirus – the highest weekly death toll in the country since the first wave of the pandemic in the spring.

The ministry also reported at least 193,139 people have tested positive for coronavirus in the past week.

At least 2,499,560 coronavirus cases have been recorded in Spain since the beginning of the pandemic.

Much of Spain remains in strict lockdown, with overnight curfews and entertainment venues closed.?

The community of Madrid introduced new measures Friday, restricting movement overnight between the hours of 10 p.m. and 6 a.m., closing commercial outlets from 9 p.m. and further restricting private gatherings, with no more than four people allowed to meet unless they live in the same home. The measures come into effect Monday.

The health ministry also reported a slight increase in the number of vaccine doses so far administered – to at least 1,165,825. However, the number of vaccination doses distributed to Spain’s regions has not risen since Wednesday.?

Correction: An earlier version of this post incorrectly reported that this week’s death toll was the highest on record. It’s the highest since the pandemic’s first wave.

Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards implored residents to continue to wear a mask as the UK variant is confirmed in states across the nation. Last week the Louisiana State Department of Health identified at least one case of the UK variant in its state.??

“This variant spreads more easily from one person to another than other viral strains currently circulating in the United States, though It has not been shown to cause more severe disease,” their statement said.

Health officials warn there are likely many more cases in the state that they have not been able to identify.??

During a Friday briefing, Edwards said with the variant confirmed, it’s more important than ever to wear a mask – regardless of political party.?

Severe allergic reactions to the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine are a “rare event,” according to a report published Friday by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

As of Jan. 10, among the more than 4 million people vaccinated with the first dose of the Moderna shot, only 10 people had severe allergic reactions, known as anaphylaxis, according to the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. That’s a rate of 2.5 cases per million doses administered.?

A previous report on the Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine estimated an initial rate of 11.1 cases per million of the first doses administered.

The CDC has been monitoring for adverse reactions and collected 1,266 adverse event reports related to the Moderna vaccine. Among those reports, 108 involving allergic reactions were flagged for further review.

The CDC determined 47 of the reports were nonanaphylaxis allergic reactions, 47 were considered nonallergic reactions, four case reports didn’t have enough information.

All 10 of the anaphylaxis cases were women.?Of the 10, nine had a documented history of allergies and more than half of those people had a previous history of anaphylaxis. Only one had a prior allergic reaction to a vaccine. The others had allergic reactions to a mix of things – drugs, contrast agents used in some medical imaging and one person had a food allergy.??

Symptoms began at a median of seven and a half minutes after the shot. Among those for whom CDC had follow up information, all had recovered and had been discharged from the hospital and sent home.?

The current CDC guidance is that people who have an immediate allergic reaction to a first dose of either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine shouldn’t get the second. The guidance also mandates health care workers monitor people for at least 15 minutes after vaccination. Anaphylaxis is potentially life-threatening and requires immediate treatment; the CDC says vaccination sites need trained staff and supplies on hand to manage it.

A "closed" sign hangs on the door of a restaurant in Detroit in April.

Michiganders can once again dine indoors at restaurants starting Feb. 1, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced at a news conference Friday.

Before the Department of Health and Human Services’ three-week epidemic order limiting social gatherings launched on Nov. 15, Michigan had 734 cases of Coivd-19 per million residents, Whitmer said. The state has now seen a 70% reduction to 177 cases per million, according to the Governor.

“I know this pandemic has hurt our restaurant owners, our restaurant workers, and all of their families. I want to thank those that made incredible sacrifices, and did their part, on behalf of our protecting our communities from Covid,” said Whitmer.

Michigan Department of Health and Human Services Chief Medical Executive Dr. Joneigh Khaldun further clarified that restaurants will operate at 25% capacity and must observe a 10 p.m. curfew.

“I’m pleased that we can move forward in this way. We know that our restaurant owners want to protect their patrons and help to end this pandemic,” Khaldun said, but said she wanted to remind people that scientists and doctors have reiterated that being indoors, with no mask on, is one of the riskier activities people can do when it comes to the spread of Covid-19.

“So now people have a choice. The safest thing to do, especially if you are elderly, if you have underlying medical conditions, or if you live with someone who’s elderly or has underlying medical conditions,” Khaldun said. “The safest thing to do is to not be inside a restaurant, but we still want you to order from them though, you can support them with takeout delivery, or dining out doors.”

Pfizer told CNN that its Covid-19 vaccine trial in children ages 12 to 15 is now fully enrolled with 2,259 participants.?

Pfizer began to enroll participants for this trial in October, but the company says it does not know when the data from this trial will be available.

Currently, Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine has been granted emergency use authorization by the US Food and Drug Administration for those who are age 16 and above. There is currently no FDA authorized Covid-19 vaccine for children.?

One case of the Covid-19 variant identified in South Africa has been detected in Cuba, Cuban health officials said during a daily briefing on Friday.?

The person found positive for the Covid-19 variant was tested at an airport upon entering the country and is now in isolation.

This is the first case of any Covid-19 variant found in Cuba. To date, Cuba has registered a total of 19,530 cases and 184 deaths.?

Portuguese health authorities have reported yet another record daily increase in deaths from Covid-19, with 234 new fatalities in the past 24 hours.

It is the fifth consecutive record-breaking day.

Health authorities also reported 13,987 new cases in the past 24 hours, the second-highest daily cases count since the pandemic started.

The government decided Thursday to toughen the current lockdown restrictions and ordered schools and universities to close for at least 15 days, due to the rapid increase of cases.

The country of ten million has been struggling with a spike in cases since the new year.

About 1,900 doses of the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine were compromised when a cleaning contractor accidentally loosened the freezer’s plug at the Jamaica Plain VA campus in Massachusetts, Kyle Toto, a spokesperson for the VA Boston Health Care System, told CNN.

The doses were designated for employees at the health care facility as well as inpatient and outpatient veterans, Toto added.

Toto said VA Boston Pharmacy staff discovered the issue Tuesday because the freezer was no longer cold.

National Football League commissioner Roger Goodell announced Friday the league will allow 22,000 fans at Super Bowl LV next month.

According to a press release, the NFL made the decision “following discussions with public health officials, including the CDC, the Florida Department of Health, and area hospitals and health care systems”.

“These officials reviewed and provided feedback on the NFL’s comprehensive plans that will enable the league to host fans and the vaccinated health care workers in a safe and responsible way,” the statement added.

Among the 22,000 fans, the NFL is giving 7,500 vaccinated health care workers free tickets to the game. The league said health care workers will be recognized with planned tributes in the stadium and during the broadcast.

“These dedicated health care workers continue to put their own lives at risk to serve others, and we owe them our ongoing gratitude, we hope in a small way that this initiative will inspire our country and recognize these true American heroes. This is also an opportunity to promote the importance of vaccination and appropriate health practices, including wearing masks in public settings,” said Goodell.

Super Bowl LV is scheduled to take place at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida on Sunday, Feb. 7.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of?the?National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases,?told CNN’s John Berman that?to?make a difference in?the?vaccine?rollout,?they need?to?get into local areas?to?understand?what’s going?wrong?and how?to?fix it.

“It’s a complicated issue,” Fauci said when asked one thing he would like?to?see?today?to?make a difference on vaccinations.

“You got?to?get into?the?local area and find?out?what’s going on here,?what’s?wrong, let’s try and fix it,” he said.

“Back months ago, for example when you’re sitting in?the?situation room and you hear, OK, things look pretty good, you know this is happening, that’s happening. You go home, you get on?the?phone?to?the?people who are actually doing it and?they say it’s not working well.”?

Fauci said that?they need?to?go?the?local areas and partner?with?people doing vaccinations?to?look at?what?went?wrong?there and how?they can help?them?to?fix things — or help?them?to?help?themselves fix it.?

“I think that’s?what?you’re going?to?be starting?to?see, in fact it’s happening right now,” he said.?

If you aren’t sure of?what’s going?wrong, “don’t guess, go and?figure?out?what?it is and help people fix it,” he said.

The European Union will seek clarification from Pfizer on reports of new delays in delivering Covid-19 vaccines, chief spokesperson for European Commission Eric Mamer said during a press briefing on Friday.

Mamer stressed that the Commission is constantly in contact with the manufacturers and are aware of recent developments.

Last week?Pfizer said that shipments from its vaccine facility in Puurs, Belgium, would be temporarily reduced?as it scales up to?produce 2 billion Covid-19 vaccine doses in 2021.??

Eric Mamer explained that the deliveries are organised specifically between the Member States and the companies, while the Commission supports the relationship between the two.?

Some background: Italy announced Wednesday it will take legal actions against pharmaceutical company Pfizer over Covid-19 vaccine delays.

“Unfortunately this week we received 29% fewer vaccine jabs from Pfizer and we have been told that we will receive 20% fewer vaccine jabs next week,” the country’s extraordinary coronavirus commissioner Domenico Arcuri said Thursday during a press conference. The vaccination rollout has been “significantly” slowed down due to this delay, Arcuri added.

“Until last Saturday we vaccinated an average of 80,000 people a day, with a peak of 92,618 in 24 hours. After Saturday, the people who were vaccinated are just over a third, 28,000 on average,” he said.

Pfizer said last week that in order to increase capacity, changes were needed to the process and facility, and additional regulatory approvals would be required.

Pfizer’s vaccine partner BioNTech later said that the original schedule for deliveries to the European Union would resume the week beginning Jan. 25.

BioNTech said it hoped to “increase delivery beginning the week of February 15,” which would result in delivering “the fully committed quantity of vaccine doses in the first quarter and significantly more in the second quarter.”

The British government has denied reports that suggest that it intends to pay everyone in England who test positive for Covid-19 and additional ￡500 (which is about $683), in an effort to increase the number of people respecting lockdown rules.

“We’ve given local authorities ￡70 million for the scheme and they are able to provide extra payments on top of those ￡500 if they think it necessary,” the spokesperson also said.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, speaks during a White House press briefing at the White House in Washington, DC, on January 21.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told CNN’s John Berman Friday that he thinks that the country will do better than the goal of 100 million vaccine doses administered in President Joe Biden’s first 100 days in office.?

Fauci said that you go for 100 million over 100 days, “if we do better than that, which I personally think we likely will, then great.”

“We’re just going to go for it for as much as you possibly can,” Fauci said. “When you set a goal, if you do better than the goal, that’s terrific, I hope we do.”?

Some background: US President Biden?has pledged to provide?100?million?doses?of Covid-19 vaccine in his first?100?days of office.?

White House coronavirus coordinator Jeff Zients said Thursday he thinks the vaccine supply will be adequate to meet this goal.

Kiev Mayor Vitali Klitschko is pictured during an event on September 10, 2020, in Kiev, Ukraine.

The Ukrainian capital of Kiev is negotiating with several manufacturers to purchase one million vaccine doses, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said during a briefing on Friday.

“It is a question of buying 1 million doses for the vaccination of 500,000 Kyiv residents,” he added.

The mayor stressed that the capital is ready to buy the vaccine with the money from the city budget.

City authorities have preliminary agreements with some manufacturers and the capital has an infrastructure ready for vaccination: there is equipment for storing the vaccine, vaccination rooms, and specialists who will conduct centralized training, Klitschko said.

“We must prevent the spread of the disease. First of all, to protect the most vulnerable categories of the population,” he emphasized.

For background: Covid-19 vaccination has yet to begin in Ukraine. President Volodymyr Zelensky said last week the European Union should pay increased attention to the Eastern Partnership countries in purchasing and supplying the Covid-19 coronavirus vaccine.

As of Friday, the country reported 5,348 new coronavirus cases and 163 new daily deaths, Health Minister Maksym Stepanov said on his official Facebook page.

The current death toll currently stands at 21,662, whilst the?total number of?cases?recorded since the pandemic began is now 1,182,969, according to the government’s dashboard.

Real Madrid's head coach Zinedine Zidane is pictured during a match between Alcoyano and Real Madrid at the El Collao stadium in Alcoy, Spain, on January 20.

Spanish soccer giants Real Madrid announced in a statement on Friday that manager Zinedine Zidane has tested positive for Covid-19.

The club did not provide any further details.

The Frenchman was present on the touchline as Real fell to a humiliating defeat to third-division club Alcoyano in the Spanish Copa del Rey on Wednesday.

Zidane guided Real to their first La Liga title in three years last season after having?previously led them to three consecutive UEFA Champions League successes in 2016, 2017 and 2018 and one league title in 2017, among others, in his first spell in charge.

Real currently sit second in the league, seven points behind local rivals Atletico Madrid, having played a game more.

The team is scheduled to play Alavés away in La Liga on Saturday.

Here are some of the key coronavirus lines from Europe today:

It probably won’t make a big difference if people can’t get a second Covid-19 vaccine until six weeks after the first, Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said Friday.

On Thursday, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated its guidance to say that people could schedule second doses of vaccine up to six weeks after their first if they were unable to get it in the recommended time frame – 21 days after the first shot for the Pfizer vaccine, or 28 days after the first shot for the Moderna vaccine.

On Thursday, Fauci told CNN’s Chris Cuomo that people were “taking a chance” if they waited up to six weeks, although it was possible it was “not going to be a big deal.”

Fauci explained to CNN’s John Berman on New Day Friday that clinical trial said it’s optimal to stick with the recommended time frames. What the CDC is saying, Fauci said, is “sometimes the situation is stressed, where it’s very difficult to be exactly on time. So, we’re saying you could probably do it six weeks later, namely two additional weeks.”?

He said that “quite frankly, immunologically, I don’t think that’s going to make a big difference.”

“I don’t see a big problem with that if the situation on the ground means the stress is such you can’t precisely do 28 days or 21 days,” Fauci said.

He said that there is no disagreement between the CDC and himself: “They’re saying, practically speaking, if you gotta do that, it very likely is not going to make a big difference.”

Watch more from Fauci’s interview with CNN here:

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC] did not meet a goal to quickly ramp up surveillance for possibly dangerous coronavirus mutations, according to numbers from the federal agency.

At the beginning of the year, Dr. Gregory?Armstrong, director of the CDC’s Office of Advanced Molecular Detection at the National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, told?CNN?he hoped that over the next two weeks that the agency would more than double the number of coronavirus genomes being sequenced in the US. While the number of sequences did increase over those two weeks, it did not double.??

The hope was to sequence an additional 3,500 coronavirus samples per week. But only 2,250 to 2,650 additional samples were sequenced, according to CDC numbers, with more expected soon as private labs have recently come online to help in the effort.

Hunting for new mutations is a critical part of combatting the spread of the virus. While most mutations are harmless, some might be able to spread more quickly, be more deadly, or be resistant to coronavirus vaccines.?

The US has been criticized for having a lackluster sequencing program.?Last week, President-elect Joe Biden said he would increase?funding for?coronavirus surveillance efforts when he takes office.??

“We simply do not have the kind of robust surveillance capabilities that we need to track outbreaks and mutations,” according to a Biden’s?American rescue plan?issued last week.?

The US ranks 33rd?in the world for sequences per 1,000 cases of Covid-19, falling behind countries that have far fewer resources, such as Senegal and Sierra Leone, according?an analysis by the?Broad Institute of Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology?using data from?GISAID, an independent data sharing initiative.?

Hotez?added that when it comes to genomic sequencing,?the US comes up?“profoundly small, and that’s tragic. And it’s costing American lives.”

Read the full story here.

A coffin labeled with the inscription "Covid 19" is pictured at a crematorium in Dülmen, Germany, on January 19.

German health officials on Friday described the death toll from Covid-19 in the country as “depressing” and “inconceivable,” as the total number of fatalities passed the 50,000 mark.

“A total of 50,642 people have died from Covid-19 since the pandemic began, that is a depressing to me, almost [an] inconceivable number,” the head of the Robert Koch Institute for infectious diseases, Lothar Wieler, told journalists during a press conference in Berlin.?

At the same briefing, German Health Minister Jens Spahn reiterated the call for people to respect existing anti-coronavirus measures to avoid overwhelming the healthcare system.

“We see?some initial relief in the intensive care unit facilities,” he said, but cautioned that the number of patients admitted to intensive care units “are still at too high.”

Around 1.5 million people have been vaccinated against Covid-19 in Germany, the minister said.

Spahn then added that with the expected approval of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine candidate in the EU, he hoped to have everyone in the country vaccinated by the summer.

President Joe Biden signs executive orders as part of the Covid-19 response, as Vice President Kamala Harris, left, and Dr. Anthony Fauci look on, at the White House in Washington, DC, on January 21.

As US President?Joe Biden?takes steps to try to ramp up vaccine production, experts say the biggest boon to his administration’s vaccine strategy could simply be good timing.

Experts tell CNN that Biden’s team may be positioned for success even if it does relatively little, as the administration absorbs a?flawed vaccine-distribution effort?but at the same moment manufacturers hit a stride and states work out the kinks in their own distribution plans.

“They’re going to take advantage of the learning curve,” said Vijay Samant, a former Merck executive who oversaw the production of three successful vaccines during his tenure. Samant said vaccine manufacturers have had months to work out supply bottlenecks and that manufacturing was always projected to speed up in the coming months.

Biden’s chief medical adviser Dr.?Anthony Fauci on Thursday expressed confidence in the President’s once seemingly far-reaching goal to vaccinate 100 million people in his first 100 days.

Still, questions remain about where US vaccine supply currently stands.

Biden’s team has said it’s flying somewhat blind when it comes to the supply of vaccine and how it has been allocated across the country. A source close to the transition told CNN that the Biden team had been denied access to critical resources it needed to accurately gauge the supply and prepare to take over the rollout before Biden took office.

For the Biden team, it’s critical to understand how much supply is on hand and how much could realistically be available in the coming months. States have said they need clear and consistent guidance on vaccine supply so they can continue to streamline their vaccination programs.

Read the full story here:

VALLEY STREAM, NEW YORK - DECEMBER 21: Michelle Chester, DNP, director of employee health services at Northwell Health, shows the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine at Long Island Jewish Valley Stream Hospital on December 21, 2020 in Valley Stream, New York. The first set of COVID-19 vaccines were made available to healthcare workers last week. (Photo by Eduardo Munoz-Pool/Getty Images)

Related article Experts say Biden's vaccine strategy could benefit from good timing

Japan National Stadium, where some events for the postponed Tokyo 2020 Olympics are planned to take place, is seen from a rooftop observation deck in Tokyo, Japan, on January 21.

Reports of this summer’s Tokyo Olympic Games being canceled due to Covid-19 are “categorically untrue,” the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said in a statement to CNN on Friday.

The Times of London, citing an unnamed senior member of the ruling coalition, reported earlier on Friday?that Japanese authorities had privately concluded the Olympics could not proceed due to?the ongoing pandemic. CNN has not independently verified this report.

“At an IOC Executive Board meeting in July last year, it was agreed that the Opening Ceremony of the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 would be held on July 23 this year, and the programme and venues for the Games were rescheduled accordingly. All parties involved are working together to prepare for a successful Games this summer.”

The IOC statement also said organizers will be “implementing all possible countermeasures against COVID-19” and reiterated its commitment to the successful delivery of the Games later this year.

Officials in Tokyo have also been quick to reject the rumors. Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike said in a press conference Friday that “cancelation and postponement of the Games have not been discussed.” Japan’s Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga also?denied the reports, saying his government is “determined” to “realize a safe and secure Olympics.”

Saturday marks six months until the postponed Games are due to begin.

A dose of the Sputnik V vaccine is seen during a coronavirus vaccination campaign in Moscow, Russia on January 21.

The Hungarian Government has reached a deal with Russia to purchase a “large quantity” of Russia’s Sputnik Covid-19 vaccine, the country’s Foreign Minister announced during a visit to Moscow on Friday.?

“I am happy to announce that we have signed an agreement today under which?Hungary?can purchase a large quantity of vaccine from Russia in three tranches,” Peter Szijjarto said, adding that additional details regarding the agreement – namely specifics on when the first vaccines will be delivered – would be released later.?

“It’s Hungary’s national interest to speed up vaccinations. Because of the slow arrival of vaccines so far, this is only possible if we buy effective and safe vaccines from another source,” he added.?

The Hungarian government has complained about what it considers the slow arrival of vaccines approved and purchased by the European Union as a whole.

Men carry a box containing the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine as the first shipment of it arrived in Budapest, Hungary, on January 12.

The bloc had agreed to distribute vaccines at an equal pace and on a pro rata basis, but speaking to a local radio on Friday, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban blamed Brussels for the slow distribution and urged the European Medicines Agency to approve other vaccines, such as the Oxford/AstraZeneca candidate.?

“Hungarians need the vaccine, not an explanation,” he said.?

Some context: Orban is facing a potentially tight parliamentary elections in 2022 and his government is ramping rhetoric as it attempts to be seen as handling the coronavirus outbreak in the country well.

The country reported 1,311 new cases of Covid-19 on Friday and 98 additional deaths from the virus. A total of 356,973 have contracted the virus in the country and 11,713 have died with Covid-19.

Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike attends a press conference in Tokyo on January 15.

Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike has denied reports of the Olympic Games being canceled in a press conference Friday saying, “cancelation and postponement of the games have not been discussed.”

This comes after?The Times of London, citing an unnamed senior member of the ruling coalition, reported earlier Friday that Japanese authorities had privately concluded that the Olympics could not proceed due to?the ongoing pandemic.?CNN has not independently verified the report, which officials in Tokyo were quick to refute.

Japan’s Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga also denied the reports, saying his government is “determined” to “realize a safe and secure Olympics” during a press conference Friday.

Read more on this story here:

Olympic Rings are seen near the National Stadium, the main venue for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games, in Tokyo on January 8, 2021, as Tokyo Olympics organisers insisted that the coronavirus-postponed Games will still go ahead despite Japan declaring a state of emergency less than 200 days before the opening ceremony. (Photo by Behrouz MEHRI / AFP) (Photo by BEHROUZ MEHRI/AFP via Getty Images)

Related article Japan determined to hold Tokyo Olympics despite cancellation rumors

Staff and volunteers distribute the Covid-19 vaccine to people as they remain in their vehicles at The Forum in Inglewood, California, on, January 19.

About 6 in 10 Americans don’t know when or where to get a?coronavirus vaccine, a?new report from the Kaiser Family Foundation finds.?

The report, based on surveys conducted from January 11 to 18 with 1,563 participants, also suggests Americans are experiencing a range of emotions as a result of the chaotic vaccine rollout.?Half said they are “frustrated,” a third said they felt “confused,” and nearly a quarter are “angry.”

The survey also found that 55% of essential workers they interviewed said they have enough information about where to get a vaccine, but do not have enough information to know when they will be eligible for their shots. Additionally, 21% of health care workers interviewed who have not yet gotten vaccinated said they don’t have enough information about how to obtain a coronavirus vaccine.?

The report also found Black, Hispanic and lower income adults are among the groups least likely to say they have enough information about vaccines. At least 6 in 10 said they don’t have enough information about where to get vaccinated, and at?least two-thirds said that they do not have enough information about when they can get vaccinated.

About half (48%) of the public expects vaccine distribution to “get better” under President Biden’s administration, while most others expect the situation to “stay about the same” (36%). Relatively few (12%) expect distribution to “get worse,” the survey stated.?

Regardless of personal politics most of the survey participants – 60% – rated their state government’s performance on vaccines as only fair or poor.

The Missouri state health department has not been including results from antigen tests (rapid tests) when reporting Covid-19 case totals, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported Thursday.?

State health department data requested by the Post-Dispatch showed “antigen tests caught an average of 648 positive cases a day in December and 644 positive cases a day in January — numbers that were not included in the state’s daily report of new COVID-19 cases,” the newspaper reported.?

Data analysis conducted by the Post-Dispatch showed that, “in January, the numbers would be 20% to 40% higher on any given day,” if the antigen test results had been included in the daily case counts, according to the newspaper.?

The Post-Dispatch noted that the CDC updated its probable cause definition in August to include positive antigen test results, even among asymptomatic people.

When asked about the state’s antigen test reporting, Lisa Cox, a spokesperson for the?Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services told the Post-Dispatch, “This has been an active discussion lately about how and when we will report antigen/probables publicly as they have continued to become a much larger portion of testing overall.” She said, “It’s likely this piece will become part of our standard public reporting within the next week or so.”

CNN has reached out to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services and is reaching out to other states to?determine?if Missouri’s counting methods are unique.?

Note: These numbers were released by the?Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services and reported by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and?may not line up exactly in real time with CNN’s database drawn from Johns Hopkins University.

Denmark has suspended all flights from the United Arab Emirates for five days due to suspicions that pre-flight Covid-19 tests in Dubai may not be trustworthy, the Danish Transport Ministry said in a statement on Friday.?

“We have seen in the past, mutations come in via Dubai, and we cannot ignore such a suspicion,” Danish Transport Minister Benny Engelbrecht said, according to the statement.

The flight ban goes into effect Friday night, the statement added.

Nurses transfer the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine from a bottle into a syringe to ready for vaccination in Corona, California, on January 15.

Despite challenges with the distribution and administration of?Covid-19?vaccines, the US “can and should” vaccinate 70-85% of US adults by the end of summer, infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci said Thursday.

If officials do hit that benchmark, it could means a semblance of normalcy by the fall, the director of the?National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases?said.

At the current pace of vaccinations, that necessary threshold will not be reached until February 2022, but Fauci said officials must and will ramp up production and distribution by “getting community vaccine centers, getting the pharmacies fully involved, using mobile units to get into inaccessible places.”

Fauci’s assessment offers a glimmer of hope as forecasts predict the death toll from the virus will likely top 500,000 within the next month.

“The only way to solve a problem is to own it,” he said. “Everybody wear a mask, everybody adhere to the public health measures, get the vaccine out as expeditiously as possible, do everything we can to get the doses available and to get them into people’s arms.”

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Jan 7, 2021; Mission Hill, CA, USA; Ararat House registered nurse Arpa Davoudian prepares to administer a COVID-19 vaccine to a resident at the Ararat House Nursing Facility on Jan. 7, 2021.. Mandatory Credit: Harrison Hill-USA TODAY/Sipa USA

Related article The US 'can and should' vaccinate up to 85% of adults by the end of summer, Fauci says

The British government is considering a full closure of the country’s borders in order to contain the spread of new variants of Covid-19, according to Environment Secretary George Eustice.

“We always keep these things under review,” Eustice told Sky News on Friday. “There is concern at the moment at the number of mutant strains … concerns that there’s a risk that one day there will be a strain that might be able to evade the vaccine.”

Eustice also did not deny reports that the government was considering giving ￡500 ($685)?to people who test positive for Covid-19, as an incentive to self-isolate.?

A coffin labeled "Biohazard Covid-19" is seen at a crematorium in Dülman, Germany, on January 19.

Germany?has surpassed 50,000 Covid-19 deaths, according to data published Friday by the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), the country’s disease control agency.

In the past 24 hours, Germany reported 859 new fatalities related to Covid-19, bringing the total to 50,642. The RKI also recorded 17,862 new coronavirus infections, taking the total to 2,106,262?

To date, Germany has immunized?1,401,693?people – about 1.7% of its population – according to RKI data. Among those vaccinated were 341,768 residents of nursing homes and around 468,814 medical staff, according to data from the country’s federal states.?

Tougher measures: On Thursday,?German Chancellor?Angela Merkel urged Germans to take the spread of the new, more contagious variant of coronavirus ”very seriously”.?

Earlier in the week, Germany extended a nationwide lockdown until February 14, implementing stricter rules, including making FFP2 masks mandatory in public spaces and forcing?German companies to allow employees?to work from home until mid-March, where possible.

Starting Sunday, people entering France from other European Union countries must present a negative Covid PCR test taken within 72 hours.

These new rules don’t apply to “essential trips” nor to people who cross the border daily to work in France, or those who work in transport.

The measure was announced in a news release from the office of the Elysée Palace on Friday.

The release also reiterated that France had already imposed stricter measure for travelers from countries outside of EU borders (including the UK), who not only have to present a negative PCR test taken within 72 hours but also quarantine for seven days. They must also take a second test at the end of the quarantine period.

A Sri Lankan airport worker walks inside a terminal at the Katunayake International Airport in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on January 20.

The island nation of Sri Lanka is now open to tourists from all countries.

Sri Lanka Minister of Tourism Prasanna Ranatunga made the official announcement during a news conference on Thursday, confirming they would reopen the country’s borders from January 21. Both of the country’s international airports reopened on the same day.

As part of efforts to prevent the spread of Covid-19, Sri Lanka created a “bio bubble,” which will give visitors a relative amount of freedom to travel within the country while still observing safety protocols.

Though there is no minimum time that a visitor must spend in the country, anyone coming from abroad must stay in a government-approved hotel or resort for up to two weeks upon arrival.

Read the full story:

Related article Sri Lanka reopens borders to international travelers

The United States reported 188,952?new coronavirus infections and 3,955?virus-related fatalities on Thursday, according to Johns Hopkins University data.

According to JHU’s tally, the nationwide totals now stand at 24,627,882 cases, including 410,105 deaths.

The totals include cases from all 50 states, the District of Columbia and other US territories, as well as repatriated cases

Vaccine numbers:?At least?37,960,000?vaccine doses have been distributed and at least?17,546,374?shots administered, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Track US cases:?

A healthcare worker vaccinates a frontline health worker with the Covishield Covid-19 vaccine in Kolkata, on January 19.

India has vaccinated a total of 1,043,534 health care workers so far during the first phase of a nationwide vaccination drive that began on January 16, the country’s government announced Friday.

The country plans to vaccinate 10 million health care workers in the first phase of its vaccination program, followed by 20 million frontline workers, before moving onto its second phase of vaccinating 270 million people over the age of 50 or those under 50 with comorbidities.?

Earlier this month, India approved two vaccines for emergency use – Astra Zeneca’s Covishield vaccine manufactured by Serum Institute of India, and the India-developed Covaxin vaccine made by Bharat Biotech. India has procured 11 million doses of Covishield and 5.5 million doses of Covaxin for the first phase.

Due to concerns around the use of Covaxin before its third phase trial data has been released, and the below target turnout of beneficiaries in many states, the Indian government on Thursday began an awareness campaign to assuage concerns.

India has reported 10,625,428 total cases of coronavirus, including 153,032 deaths, according to the country’s Health Ministry.

Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, WHO regional director for Africa, speaks during a news conference at the European headquarters of the UN in Geneva, Switzerland, on February 1, 2019.

The World Health Organization is planning to deliver 600 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines to Africa by the end of the year, a senior official said during a WHO news conference on Thursday.

The delivery will be arranged via the COVAX scheme, and the initial 30 million doses are expected to arrive by March, WHO’s Africa director Dr. Matshidiso Moeti said.?

By the end of the year, the scheme is expected to cover about 20% of the population in African countries, based on two doses per person, she said.

Moeti added that healthcare workers and other high priority groups will be prioritized in the vaccination drive.

A resident receives a Pfizer-BioNtech Covid-19 vaccine from a healthcare worker at The Palace, an independent living community for seniors, at Coral Gables in Miami, on January 12.

Vaccinating the over 60s is the most effective way to cut deaths from coronavirus, researchers reported Thursday.?

A mathematical model looking at various vaccination strategies shows that vaccinating younger adults does more to stop the overall spread of the virus, but immunizing the older groups saves more lives.

“We found that across countries those aged 60 and older should be prioritized to minimize deaths,” the team at the University of Colorado Boulder and the Harvard School of Public Health wrote in their report published in the journal Science.

The models they ran did not include the benefits of vaccinating people with chronic health conditions, who also have a high risk of severe disease and death compared to young healthy people. They also did not consider the current plan of vaccinating frontline health care workers and essential workers first. And they did not include vaccinating children in their modeling.

The federal government has already asked states to shift to vaccinating people over 65.

People in protective suits cordon off an area around a residential neighborhood in Shanghai's Huangpu district in China, on January 21.

Shanghai’s Huangpu district reported six new cases of coronavirus on Thursday, according to the local health commission, the first infections in the city since November last year.

The first patient tested positive after a regular Covid-19 test for staff at the Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center.?

The second case lives in the same residential compound as the first patient and tested positive during a regular test of medical personnel at the city’s Renji Hospital.

Both medical facilities suspended outpatient services, according to notices on their respective social media accounts. Authorities also declared the residential compound where these confirmed cases lived as being a “medium-risk area” on Thursday.?

According to a statement from the Shanghai Health Commission, as of 10 p.m. Thursday, 72 close contacts had been tracked down and tested negative. Some 15,073 relevant personnel have received nucleic acid tests and got negative results.

All close contacts identified have been put under medical observation, and relevant locations where confirmed cases were known to have visited have been notified and disinfected, according to the local health commission.?

Johnson & Johnson board member Dr. Mark McClellan said on Thursday the company plans to have “enough vaccines for 100 million Americans by spring.”?

“I do know that J&J is making a very large supply, going all out with its production both here in the US and elsewhere around the world, with the goal of having perhaps enough vaccines for 100 million Americans by spring, by this April or so,” McClellan?told CNBC.?

“So that’s going to make a big difference in supply availability over the coming weeks and months, if the clinical trial does work out,”?

McClellan also?said that the vaccine’s clinical trial is “going on at very large scale right now” to make sure it’s safe and effective.

Close to seeking EUA: Dr. Anthony Fauci said Thursday that?Johnson & Johnson is “right around the corner” from seeking?emergency use authorization for its Covid-19 vaccine from the FDA.

Fauci also stated that the?Johnson & Johnson vaccine?has some advantages, as it’s a single shot, and it doesn’t have as stringent of a cold chain requirement.

However, when asked if AstraZeneca is close to requesting an EUA for its vaccine as well, Fauci said they’re behind.

“AstraZeneca is not quite there yet, you know that’s one that’s being tested in multiple countries but it’s a bit behind, but not too far behind,” Fauci said.?

Dodger Stadium Covid-19 Testing and Vaccination site is seen in Los Angeles, on January 19.

Some people this week waited in line for up to five hours at Dodger Stadium – the largest vaccination site in the United States – amid low supply of the Covid-19 vaccine in Los Angeles, Mayor Eric Garcetti said.

Most of these individuals were over 65 years old.

“Some of the brave folks who came forward I know waited for up to five hours,” Garcetti said. “I worked that line apologizing to people,” he added.?

The mass drive-through vaccination site stayed open until 11 p.m. PT Wednesday, three hours past the scheduled closing time, to assure everyone in line was immunized, Garcetti said. Officials have since increased staffing and deployed additional resources?to reduce wait times.?The average wait time Thursday was 30-40 minutes, Garcetti said.

While there are nearly 1.4 million people over the age of 65 in LA, only about 850,000 first doses have been delivered due to strained supply, Garcetti said. If production of the vaccine does not ramp up, officials say it will take until June 2021 for all healthcare workers and seniors over 65 in LA to get vaccinated with their second dose.

To date, five LA city sites have vaccinated more than 80,000 people. This week, Los Angeles County vaccination centers have immunized 46,635 people, a 90% increase since last week.

Surge in cases: LA County added 8,512 new coronavirus cases and 262 additional deaths on Thursday. According to Garcetti, the last time the county reported under 10,000 cases for two consecutive days was in the first week of December.?

The seven-day average of new cases has decreased by 30%, according to a news release from the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health. Hospitalizations have also decreased this week, down 7% since last Thursday.?

To date, the county has reported a total of 1,046,021 Covid-19 cases and 14,641 deaths.

People can schedule their second doses of Covid-19 vaccine up to six weeks after their first?doses if they are otherwise unable to get one in the recommended timeframe, the US?Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in guidance updated Thursday.

The recommended time between doses is three weeks for Pfizer/BioNTech’s vaccine, and four weeks for Moderna’s?vaccine.?

“The second dose should be administered as close to the recommended interval as possible,” the latest guidance says.

The updated CDC guidance appears to clarify earlier language that said “there is no?maximum interval between the first and second doses for either vaccine.”

Delaying the second dose up to six weeks is in line with what WHO advisers said earlier this?month.

CDC says its guidance may be updated as new information and new types of?Covid-19 vaccines become available.

Fauci’s response: Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said people would be “taking a chance” if they follow the CDC’s updated guidance.

Fauci said it’s possible that delaying the second dose is “not going to be a big deal.” However, he said, we don’t know for sure because the vaccine data hasn’t been looked at for this extended time-period between doses.?

Japan’s Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said his government is “determined” to “realize a safe and secure Olympics” during a news conference Friday.

Earlier on Friday, The Times of London, citing an unnamed senior member of the ruling coalition, reported that the government “privately concluded that the Tokyo Olympics will have to be cancelled because of the coronavirus,” CNN has not independently verified the report.

The Japanese government is determined that the Tokyo Olympics will go ahead, organizers said Friday, following an unconfirmed report that a cancellation of the Games might be imminent.

On Friday, the Times of London, citing an unnamed senior member of the ruling coalition, reported that Japanese authorities had privately concluded that the Olympics could not proceed due to the ongoing pandemic. CNN has not independently verified this report, which officials in Tokyo were quick to refute.

In a statement, the Tokyo 2020 organizers said that Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga had expressed to them his determination to hold the Games, and that meetings were ongoing to ensure that they could go ahead while implementing thorough infection countermeasures and other precautions due to the pandemic.

Suga has yet not publicly spoken about the issue and his office declined to comment when approached by CNN on Friday morning.

Read more:

Olympic Rings are seen near the National Stadium, the main venue for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games, in Tokyo on January 8, 2021, as Tokyo Olympics organisers insisted that the coronavirus-postponed Games will still go ahead despite Japan declaring a state of emergency less than 200 days before the opening ceremony. (Photo by Behrouz MEHRI / AFP) (Photo by BEHROUZ MEHRI/AFP via Getty Images)

Related article Japan determined to hold Tokyo Olympics despite cancellation rumors

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

The United States can look forward to getting back to some semblance of normality by fall if enough of the population gets vaccinated this summer, top infectious diseases expert Dr. Anthony Fauci said Thursday.

It was Fauci’s first appearance at a news briefing held by the new Biden administration, held on its first full day.

It won’t be perfectly normal by then, he said, but it will take the pressure off if three-quarters or more of the population gets vaccinated.

“The concern I have, something we’re working on, is getting people who have vaccine hesitancy who don’t want to get vaccinated because many people are skeptical about that,” Fauci added.

At least five people died in a fire that broke out at a facility for the Serum Institute of India (SII), the world’s biggest vaccine maker, in the city of Pune on Thursday, according to local authorities.

Murlidhar Mohol, mayor of the western Indian city, told reporters that five bodies, believed to be those of construction workers, were retrieved from the six-floor building, while four people were rescued.

The blaze, which is now under control, will not impact production of the Covid vaccine, the company says.

SII is in partnership with Oxford University and AstraZeneca to produce the Covishield vaccine.

In a separate post, Poonawalla?tweeted, “We are deeply saddened and offer our deepest condolences to the family members of the departed.”

The cause of the blaze is yet to be determined though, according to Mohol, preliminary investigations suggest that “during the building’s construction, some welding work could have led to the fire.”

Dr Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, speaks during a White House news briefing in Washington, DC, on January 21.

Covid-19?vaccinations will not only help stop the virus from spreading, they will also hamper the coronavirus’ ability to mutate into new variants, Dr. Anthony Fauci said on Thursday.

Fauci’s remarks come as scientists around the world attempt to decipher what the new variants may mean for those who’ve been vaccinated or have antibodies to the virus.

While a?few recent studies?suggest that a variant first detected in South Africa may be a problem, even for people who have been vaccinated, at least one?recent study?found evidence that people vaccinated against coronavirus will be protected against new variants.

The South African variant has not yet been detected in the United States.?Other variants include one first identified in the United Kingdom and one found in Brazil.

Read the full story:

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, speaks with reporters in the James Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 21, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Related article CDC forecasts up to 100,000 more Covid-19 deaths in the next few weeks, although the new director offers a glimmer of hope

President Joe Biden’s?first full day in office on Thursday focused on rolling out his national strategy to get the coronavirus pandemic under control and signing several executive actions, including ramping up vaccination supplies and requiring international travelers to provide proof of a negative Covid-19 test prior to traveling to the US.

Biden’s plan starts with a national vaccination campaign in order to meet the President’s goal of administering 100 million shots, which is enough to cover 50 million Americans with vaccines that require two doses, in his first 100 days in office.

He said the plan was developed with input from the nation’s top infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, among other advisers and experts. Fauci was at the event at the White House, along with Biden’s Covid czar Jeff Zients.

Biden said the American public would be “hearing a lot more from Dr. Fauci again, not from the President, but from the real genuine experts and scientists.”

Former President Donald Trump sidelined and undermined his own medical experts as the pandemic raged across the country.

“We’re going to make sure they work free from political interference and that they make decisions strictly based on science and health care alone, science and health alone, not what the political consequences are,” Biden said.

The day after being sworn-in, Biden signed at least 10 executive orders, memorandums and directives focused on tackling the pandemic, which, as of Thursday night, has?claimed the lives?of more than 409,000 Americans and infected more than 24 million in the US.

Related article Biden issues slew of pandemic initiatives to improve vaccine distribution, expand testing and reopen schools