UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD

The exhibit is set to run until early February 2023.

Even after a mild infection, the overall size of the brain had shrunk, researchers found.

Early supply challenges are now distribution challenges.

Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss are among the Conservative politicians that are being named as possible replacements for Prime Minister Boris Johnson should he leave.

Doctors and dietitians have recommended the Mediterranean diet as a heart-healthy style of eating, but what's really behind the popular lifestyle? Registered dietitian Samantha Heller joins CBSN to break down the facts.

Two doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca or Pfizer-BioNTech Covid vaccine are less effective at fighting Omicron than previous variants of the virus, scientists say.

South African scientists identified a new COVID-19 variant which has now been reported in Belgium, Botswana, Hong Kong and Israel.

The patient's immune cells appear to have eliminated the virus without drugs or therapy.

A drug used to treat constipation could boost a person's memory after just six days, a study by the University of Oxford suggests.

An online tool could help doctors identify those who would benefit from boosters or early therapy.

The first “Dreamer” to be awarded a prestigious Rhodes Scholarship is finally poised to attend the University of Oxford after years of uncertainty about whether the U.S. would allow him to return home as a DACA recipient. Federal immigration officials last week approved Jin Park’s application to travel to England in the coming weeks, according to his law firm WilmerHale in Boston. Park, whose family immigrated from South Korea when he was 7 years old, will be joined at Oxford by Santiago Potes, a Miami resident and 2020 graduate of Columbia University in New York who became the second American on DACA status to be awarded a Rhodes Scholarship last November, according to the Rhodes Trust.

Antibody therapy - given to former US President Donald Trump - can now be used in the UK.

But the jabs were more effective against the Alpha variant, the largest study of its kind suggests.

Olympic Games are expensive.

Social mobility campaigner Sir Peter Lampl worries about the lack of fair opportunity for young people.

Patients died after the NHS cancelled appointments to remove objects left inside them, a University of Oxford study into indirect Covid deaths during the pandemic has found. Researchers uncovered 23 reports from coroners in England and Wales who found deaths had occurred which were largely preventable. In two instances, patients died when medical equipment was left inside them after operations were cancelled. A further two people lost their lives after being wrongly diagnosed with Covid via remo

The order in which you receive the shots also impacts the immune response.

Five things you need to know about the coronavirus pandemic this Wednesday morning.

Viruses mutate all the time, including the coronavirus that’s caused the global Covid-19 pandemic. Although most of the changes are innocuous, some specific mutations have sparked alarm, and four variants that emerged in the U.K., South Africa, Brazil and India have caused particular concern as they spread worldwide. Studies suggest they are more contagious and some evidence points to one of them being more deadly. At least one other is driving reinfections. Developers are working on second-gene

Viruses mutate all the time, including the coronavirus that’s caused the global Covid-19 pandemic. Although most of the changes are innocuous, some specific mutations have sparked alarm, and four variants that emerged in the U.K., South Africa, Brazil and India have caused particular concern as they spread worldwide. Studies suggest they are more contagious and some evidence points to one of them being more deadly. At least one other is driving reinfections. Developers are working on second-gene

Viruses mutate all the time, including the coronavirus that’s caused the global Covid-19 pandemic. Although most of the changes are innocuous, some specific mutations have sparked alarm, and four variants that emerged in the U.K., South Africa, Brazil and India have caused particular concern as they spread worldwide. Studies suggest they are more contagious and some evidence points to one of them being more deadly. At least one other is driving reinfections. Developers are working on second-gene

Millions of Britons had their movements "unwittingly tracked" using their mobile phones to see if vaccinated people moved about more after their jabs, the Telegraph has learnt. A report from the SPI-B committee of Government scientists admitted that data from one in ten peoples' phones were tracked in February, without their owners' express knowledge. The figures were used by researchers at Oxford University, who carried out studies for the Scientific Pandemic Influenza Group on Behaviours (SPI-B), which advises the Sage group of Government scientific advisers. Using “cell phone mobility data for 10 per cent of the British population”, the Oxford University experts found 4,254 individuals were vaccinated. This group was then tracked through 40 “CDR [call data records] with corresponding location observations” every day, and monitored for behavioural change by analysing their data for the week prior and week after the vaccination event. The report said that “various robustness checks are undertaken by age, distance from home to vaccination point” were checked. The experts also looked at “gyration (radius of gyration on vaccination day), time (opening hours) and home (do they go home directly after vaccination)”. By comparing the movements of the vaccinated people against a different control group the scientists found that their “average pre-vaccination mobility increased by 218 meters [sic]”. Campaigners against greater state surveillance in the UK said Britons would be “disturbed to discover they were unwittingly tracked and subjected to behavioural analysis via their phones”. Silkie Carlo, a spokesman for Big Brother Watch, said: "No one expects that by going to get a vaccine they will be tracked and monitored by their own Government. “This is deeply chilling and could be extremely damaging to public trust in medical confidentiality. "Between looming Covid passports and vaccine phone surveillance, this Government is turning Britain into a Big Brother state under the cover of Covid. This should be a wake up call to us all."

It is thought that a mixed dosing schedule could lead to an increase in work absences the day after immunization against the coronavirus.

Viruses mutate all the time, including the coronavirus that’s caused the global Covid-19 pandemic. Although most of the changes are innocuous, several mutants have sparked alarm, and three variants that emerged in the U.K., South Africa and Brazil have caused particular concern as they spread worldwide. Studies suggest they are more contagious, and some evidence points to one of them being more deadly and two others driving reinfections. Developers are working on second-generation vaccines after

Researchers found that 21 days after a single dose of either the Oxford-AstraZeneca or the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, new Covid-19 infections had fallen by 65%.

The U.K. health secretary stressed that the risk of developing a blood clot after receiving the AstraZeneca shot was about the same as on a long-haul flight.

It comes after a review of all currently available evidence into extremely rare cases of unusual blood clots in some vaccinated people.

Another health expert — the head of immunization at Public Health England — suggested Sunday that masks and social-distancing measures could be required for several years. Combine these factors and a summer of freedom for the U.K. public is starting look more unlikely, potentially setting the stage for more public discontent as Brits become desperate to return to "normality." A minute's silence will be held in the U.K. on Tuesday to reflect on the deaths caused by the virus. U.K. vaccine research was boosted by government funding too. The U.K. has seen the benefit with the number of new cases, hospitalizations and deaths steadily decreasing.

LONDON — The findings of a large U.S. trial have shown that the coronavirus vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford is 79% effective in preventing symptomatic illness and 100% effective against severe disease and hospitalization. The safety and efficacy analysis of the AstraZeneca vaccine, published Monday, was based on 32,449 participants across 88 trial centers in the U.S., Peru and Chile. Data from the late-stage human trial study reaffirms that the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine is safe and highly effective. By comparison, Moderna's vaccine has been found to be more than 94% effective in preventing Covid and Pfizer-BioNTech's vaccine was found to be 95% effective. The World Health Organization and the International Society on Thrombosis and Hemostasis have recommended that countries continue to use the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson reacts after receiving a dose of the Oxford/AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, amid the coronavirus disease pandemic, in London, Britain March 19, 2021. LONDON — U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson got his first dose of the coronavirus vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford on Friday, his office said in a statement, part of a push to reassure the public that the vaccine is safe and effective. A flurry of countries around the world suspended the use of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine as a precaution following reports of blood clots in some vaccinated people. The World Health Organization also said the benefits of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine outweigh the risks and has recommended that vaccinations continue. French Prime Minister Jean Castex is also expected to receive the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine on Friday.

LONDON — The European Medicines Agency has ruled that the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine is safe and effective, despite some concerns over possible side effects. France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and several other European nations now plan to resume use of the shot after the regulator's OK. "Its benefits in protecting people from Covid-19 with the associated risks of death and hospitalization outweigh the possible risks. The committee also concluded that the vaccine is not associated with an increase in the overall risk of thromboembolic events or blood clots. The regulator said it would continue to study possible links between rare blood clots and the vaccine.

LONDON — Two additional countries opted to suspend the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine in Europe on Tuesday, as regulators proceed with a new review into its side effects. Sweden and Latvia announced on Tuesday morning that they were pausing their rollout of the AstraZeneca vaccine, developed with the University of Oxford. So far, 13 countries in the European Union have taken this decision, while a few others have stopped using individual batches of the AstraZeneca vaccine. However, Europe's health regulator has insisted that the "benefits of the AstraZeneca vaccine in preventing Covid-19, with its associated risk of hospitalisation and death, outweigh the risks of side effects." In a statement Monday, the European Medicines Agency said it "will further review the information" and called an extraordinary meeting on the issue for Thursday.

LONDON — Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Ireland and the Netherlands have joined the growing list of countries that have suspended the use of the coronavirus vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford over blood clot concerns. The United Nations health agency has urged nations to continue using the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine. Despite this, a number of European countries have already paused the use of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine. Norway has put its Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine program on hold. The most common side effects of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, which does not contain the virus and cannot cause Covid, are typically mild or moderate and improve within a few days of vaccination.

"Against this background, the European Medicines Agency has launched an investigation into the AstraZeneca vaccine. At present, it cannot be concluded whether there is a link between the vaccine and the blood clots," the health authority said in a statement. It did not specify how many reports of blood clots there had been, or where they had originated. Regulators have clear and stringent efficacy and safety standards for the approval of any new medicine, and that includes COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca. "It is important to emphasize that we have not opted out of the AstraZeneca vaccine, but that we are putting it on hold.

JOHN THYS | AFP | Getty ImagesLONDON — European officials are coming under increasing pressure to reverse restrictions on who can receive the AstraZeneca-Oxford coronavirus vaccine, and to drum up support for the shot. Watzl's comments come amid tensions over the EU's slow vaccine rollout and increasing hesitancy over the AstraZeneca shot. "We never criticized the vaccine, we just criticized the lack of data for the over-65 age group," Mertens said. Last week, Germany's health ministry said it had administered only 15% of the Oxford shots it had available, Reuters reported. Public sentiment has not been helped by somewhat ambivalent comments from some senior European officials.

In a key step toward ending the coronavirus pandemic, kids as young as 6 years old will be included in the clinical trial of a COVID-19 vaccine. The University of Oxford has launched a new study to assess the safety and effectiveness of its vaccine with AstraZeneca in children for the first time. In a new statement, the university says the trial will assess immune response in kids ages 6 to 17, an age group hit hard by school closures due to the pandemic. Researchers hope that extending the vaccine to children will help alleviate some of the negative impacts of the pandemic on youth around the world. "The COVID-19 pandemic has had a profound negative impact on the education, social development and emotional well-being of children and adolescents, beyond illness and rare severe disease presentations," said Rinn Song of the Oxford Vaccine Group.

In a key step toward ending the coronavirus pandemic, kids as young as 6 years old will be tested with the COVID-19 vaccine. The University of Oxford has launched a new study to assess the safety of its vaccine with AstraZeneca in children for the first time. In a new statement, the university says the trial will assess immune response in kids ages 6 to 17, an age group hit hard by school closures due to the pandemic. Researchers hope that extending the vaccine to children will help alleviate some of the negative impacts of the pandemic on youth around the world. "The COVID-19 pandemic has had a profound negative impact on the education, social development and emotional well-being of children and adolescents, beyond illness and rare severe disease presentations," said Rinn Song of the Oxford Vaccine Group.

More than 6,300 people have died in Minnesota and more than 470,000 people have had confirmed coronavirus cases since the start of the pandemic. So far, just over 46 million doses have been administered, and the administration’s goal is to ramp up daily doses to 1.5 million. By next week, states will be sent a total of 11 million doses, an increase of 500,000 compared with this week. Iran plans also to import some 17 million doses of vaccine from the international COVAX program and millions more from individual countries. AdActing Health Secretary Alison Beam says the moves are intended to hold hospitals, pharmacies and other providers accountable for the vaccine doses.

Oxford University said "protection against moderate-severe disease, hospitalization or death could not be assessed in this study as the target population were at such low risk." "We are working with AstraZeneca to optimise the pipeline required for a strain change should one become necessary. The variant, known formally as the B.1.351 mutation, was first detected in South Africa in October and has become dominant in the country. There had already been concerns that this variant could be more resistant to coronavirus vaccines developed over the last year. As it suspended use of the AstraZeneca-Oxford University vaccine, the South African government will offer vaccines produced by Johnson & Johnson and Pfizer instead.

A new vaccine trial is underway in the U.K. to test whether mixing and matching different COVID-19 vaccines for the first and second doses is effective, BBC News reports. The trial will involve 800 volunteers, age 50 or older, who haven't received a COVID-19 vaccine yet. Some Ebola immunization programs also mixed different vaccines to improve protection. The U.S. is currently using the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines. The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) says these two vaccines are not interchangeable with each other or with other COVID-19 vaccines, and notes that the safety and efficacy of a mixing vaccines has not been evaluated.

Oxford researchers found that the Covid vaccine was 76% effective at preventing symptomatic infection for three months after a single dose, and in fact that the efficacy rate rose with a longer interval between the first and second doses. A delay in the second dose means more people can get their first vaccines sooner because it eases a tight supply. The efficacy rate rose to 82.4% when there was at least a 12-week interval before the second dose. When the second dose was given less than six weeks after the first one, the efficacy rate was 54.9%. The U.K. is also delaying the second dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, a move that the vaccine makers have warned against, arguing that there is no data to support a delay.

Chief nurse nurse Sam Foster holds a vial of the Oxford University/AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine at the Churchill Hospital in Oxford, southwest England on January 4, 2021. LONDON — The coronavirus vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford has been approved by Europe's drug regulator, the European Medicines Agency. The EMA said on Friday it had assessed the safety and effectiveness of the Covid vaccine and recommended by consensus a formal conditional marketing authorization be granted by the European Commission, the EU's executive arm. It also said that the shot would likely work in the elderly, after a German vaccine committee on Thursday recommended against giving the vaccine to the over 65s. The approval comes at a tricky time for the EU, with its vaccination program sluggish at best, and looking very vulnerable to supply shortages.

Georg Hochmuth | AFP | Getty ImagesThe U.K.'s decision to delay giving people the second dose of a coronavirus vaccine is proving controversial, with experts, advisors and the vaccine producers all weighing in on the strategy. Britain was among the first countries in the world to kick off a mass vaccination campaign against the coronavirus, after approving the Covid-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech at the start of December. "Pfizer and BioNTech's Phase 3 study for the COVID-19 vaccine was designed to evaluate the vaccine's safety and efficacy following a 2-dose schedule, separated by 21 days. Final data analysis from Pfizer/BioNTech's clinical trials showed that the vaccine was 95% effective in preventing Covid-19 seven days after the second dose was given. Denmark has reportedly already approved a delay of up to six weeks between the first and second shots of the vaccine.

LONDON — The U.K. has started rolling out the coronavirus vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford, marking another step in its battle against the coronavirus pandemic. The approval and deployment of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine is seen as a boon in the race against Covid-19 as it is cheaper than alternatives created by Pfizer and BioNTech and Moderna. As a two-dose vaccine, the agreement means up to 50 million people in the U.K., which has a population of around 66 million, could be inoculated. The Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine adds to a Covid-19 immunization program already started by Britain in December, when it started rolling out the two-dose Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. More than a million people in the U.K. have already been vaccinated with the Pfizer shot, according to the government.

People were told to work from home unless it's impossible to do so, and leave home only for essential trips. All nonessential shops and personal care services like hairdressers will be closed, and restaurants can only operate takeout services. As of Monday, there were 26,626 COVID-19 patients in hospitals in England, an increase of more than 30% from a week ago. Authorities have recorded more than 50,000 new infections daily since passing that milestone for the first time on Dec. 29. London and large areas of southeast England were put under the highest level of restrictions in mid-December, and more regions soon joined them.

Doctors in the United Kingdom are pushing back on health officials' decision to change the vaccine schedule on Pfizer's Covid-19 immunizations, saying it fails to "follow the science." Pfizer's Covid-19 vaccine, which it developed with BioNTech, recommends administering the second shot three weeks after the initial dose. The decisions would also apply to the two-dose coronavirus vaccine developed by the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca, which the U.K. authorized for emergency use on Wednesday. "We have real and grave concerns about these sudden changes to the Pfizer vaccine regime," the Doctors' Association UK, a non-profit advocacy group of volunteer medical professionals, said in a tweet Thursday. Pfizer's late-stage clinical trials showed that the vaccine was somewhat effective after the first dose was administered.

Vaccines have arrived, and more are on the way. Illinois has already administered around 126,000. Britain on Wednesday gave emergency authorization to another coronavirus vaccine, developed by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford. Developers are calling it the “vaccine for the world” because it’s significantly cheaper per dose than other vaccines and can be shipped and stored at normal refrigeration temperatures.

The Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine is cheaper than others and does not need to be kept at ultra-low temperatures required by the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines. It added that it "aims to supply millions of doses in the first quarter" as part of its deal with the U.K. government to supply up to 100 million doses in total. As a two-dose vaccine, the agreement means up to 50 million people in the U.K., which has a population of around 66 million, could be inoculated. "Everyone will still receive their second dose and this will be within 12 weeks of their first. The second dose completes the course and is important for longer term protection," it added.

Vincenzo Pinto | AFP | Getty ImagesLONDON — The coronavirus vaccine being developed by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford is expected to be approved for use in the U.K. in coming days. The Financial Times reported Sunday that government officials confirmed that the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency would imminently approve the vaccine, saying the announcement could come as soon as Tuesday. The Oxford-AstraZeneca candidate would allow the country to significantly ramp up its inoculation program, given its development in the U.K. Confusion around its trial data in November led to some criticism of U.K.-based AstraZeneca. The data suggests that the vaccine can help reduce the spread of Covid-19, as well as prevent illness and death.

LONDON — The Oxford-AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine has a "distinct comparative advantage" over other leading candidates, the editor-in-chief of The Lancet medical journal said Wednesday. The comments by Dr. Richard Horton came a day after his peer-reviewed journal published a study that found the vaccine candidate was safe and effective. The data also suggested that the vaccine can help reduce the spread of Covid-19, as well as preventing illness and death. "The Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine is the vaccine right now that is going to be able to immunize the planet more effectively, more rapidly than any other vaccine we have," Horton told CNBC's "Street Signs Europe." The Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine can be stored at regular refrigerator temperature.

A test tube labelled vaccine is seen in front of AstraZeneca logo in this illustration taken, September 9, 2020. LONDON — The coronavirus vaccine developed by British pharmaceuticals giant AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford is the first to have its late-stage trial results independently reviewed and published in a peer-reviewed medical journal. The study, published Tuesday in The Lancet, reiterated the trial findings for the vaccine that showed an average effectiveness of 70% in protecting against the coronavirus. It also confirmed findings for the dosage regimens used in the trials: 62% effectiveness for two full doses and 90% efficacy for the half-then-full dose regimen. At a press conference Tuesday, the Oxford vaccinology professor who led this coronavirus vaccine project, called it a "really good day for the U.K., this is probably the best day we've had in 2020."

“The only way we get the pandemic behind us is if we get doses of vaccine out there,” he said. That vaccine and another developed by U.S. government scientists and made by Moderna Inc. seem about 95% effective in results announced so far. Hopes are high for the AstraZeneca vaccine because it can be shipped and stored at normal refrigerator temperatures unlike the others that require freezing until a few hours before they're given. AstraZeneca has also signed licensing deals for the vaccine to be produced in countries including Brazil, South Africa and China. ___This story has been corrected to show that COVAX has ordered 400 million doses of AstraZeneca’s vaccine, not 700 million.

In giving the go-ahead for emergency use of the vaccine developed by American drugmaker Pfizer and Germany’s BioNTech, Britain vaulted past the United States by at least a week. Officials cautioned that several tough months still lie ahead even in Britain, given the monumental task of inoculating large swaths of the population. Hancock said Britain will begin receiving the first shipment of 800,000 doses from Belgium within days, and people will start getting the shots as soon as it arrives. Still to be determined is whether the Pfizer-BioNTech shots prevent people from spreading the virus when they have no symptoms. ___The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education.

More data will be needed from AstraZeneca's coronavirus vaccine trials to determine the drug's safety and efficacy following concerns from experts in the U.S., scientists from the University of Oxford and the World Health Organization said on Friday. Shares of AstraZeneca dipped this week after the company announced interim results from its coronavirus vaccine trials on Monday. The British pharmaceutical giant said its vaccine, which it's developing alongside Oxford, was 70% effective after it combined results from two different dosing regimes. The vaccine was found to be 90% effective in the group that received the smaller dose while the larger group showed only 62% effectiveness. Other British government ministers and experts have also backed AstraZeneca's vaccine, noting that drug regulators who have more information on the vaccine's late-stage clinical trials will ultimately have the final say.

(AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)BEIJING – The S&P 500 rose to a record high Friday as investors continue to look forward to the distribution of a COVID-19 vaccine and relief for the global economy. The benchmark index rose 8.70 points, or 0.2%, led by gains in technology companies, and closed at an all-time high of 3,638.35. The Nasdaq also closed at a record helped by gains in Apple, Tesla, Zoom and other tech companies. AstraZeneca shares were flat. European markets rose.

This undated photo issued by the University of Oxford shows of vial of coronavirus vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University, in Oxford, England. (University of Oxford/John Cairns via AP)LONDON – The British government said Friday it has formally asked the country’s medicines regulator to assess whether a coronavirus vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University should be authorized for use. The British government has ordered 100 million doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, and plans to start distributing it in December if it gains approval. The drugmakers informed the U.K. regulator of the issue when it was discovered, and it was agreed to complete the late-stage trial with two groups. The British government and its scientific advisers have expressed confidence that multiple vaccines will win approval, but say all decisions are up to the regulator.

AstraZeneca shares are down by around 6% this week after questions were raised over its vaccine candidate, for which the company said combined results revealed it to be 70% effective. "The studies were conducted to the highest standards," a spokesperson for AstraZeneca told CNBC on Thursday. In response, a spokesperson at AstraZeneca stressed the results were interim and that more data was to be accumulated and more analysis to be carried out. The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine candidate, as an mRNA vaccine, also requires extremely cold storage temperatures of negative 94 degrees Fahrenheit and special transport equipment. The Moderna vaccine can be stored for up to six months at minus 4 degrees Fahrenheit.

MISSOURI CITY, Texas – A Missouri City native is one of 32 American students selected for the prestigious Rhodes Scholarship to attend the University of Oxford in England. “It’s a bit overwhelming, but it’s really, really exciting. Since he is attending classes remotely, Thomas got to receive the good news at home in Missouri City with his family. It’s really, really, really exciting. “Oxford is obviously an incredible, incredible institution, and going there for free is even better.

FILE - This undated photo provided by the University of Oxford shows of vial of coronavirus vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University in Oxford, England. The deals allow it to purchase over 800 million doses, more than the population of the bloc, which stands at around 460 million people. But von der Leyen said that while vaccines are important, “what counts are vaccinations. Still, Von der Leyen urged European citizens to continue respecting restrictions, even as the measures harm businesses, further damage coronavirus-ravaged economies and put people through social and mental hardship. Relaxing too much is a risk for a third wave after Christmas,” von der Leyen said, adding that “this Christmas will be different, and yes, it will be quieter.”___Follow AP’s coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak

This week, AstraZeneca became the third vaccine maker to say early data indicates its shots are highly effective. Federal officials say the first doses will ship within a day of authorization. By the end of January, HHS officials say, all senior citizens should be able to get shots, assuming a vaccine becomes available by the end of 2020. Rather than prevent infection entirely, the first COVID-19 vaccines might only prevent illness. COVID-19 vaccine trials have to include at least 30,000 people, but the chances of a rare side effect turning up are more likely as growing numbers of people are vaccinated.

In this undated photo issued by the University of Oxford, a volunteer is administered the coronavirus vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University, in Oxford, England. —Americans are still heading to airports in large numbers to travel for the Thanksgiving holiday, despite the pandemic and guidance from health officials to limit gatherings as the virus rages through the country. THE NUMBERS: The U.S. is now averaging more than 1,500 new deaths per day, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. ICYMI: A slowdown in industrial activity linked to the coronavirus pandemic has cut emissions of pollutants and heat-trapping greenhouse gases, but hasn’t reduced their record levels in the atmosphere, the United Nations weather agency said on Monday. ___Find AP’s full coverage of the coronavirus pandemic at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic

LONDON – Drugmaker AstraZeneca said Monday that late-stage trials showed its COVID-19 vaccine is highly effective, buoying the prospects of a relatively cheap, easy-to-store product that may become the vaccine of choice for the developing world. While the AstraZeneca vaccine can be stored at 2 degrees to 8 degrees Celsius (36 degrees to 46 degrees Fahrenheit), the Pfizer and Moderna products must be stored at freezer temperatures. The AstraZeneca vaccine is also cheaper. The AstraZeneca trials were paused earlier this year after a participant in the U.K. study reported a rare neurological illness. “This vaccine’s efficacy and safety confirm that it will be highly effective against COVID-19 and will have an immediate impact on this public health emergency,’’ Soriot said.

(Siphiwe Sibeko/Pool via AP)BEIJING — China has reported new coronavirus cases in the cities of Shanghai and Tianjin as it seeks to prevent small outbreaks from becoming larger ones. ___RENO, Nevada — The head of the Nevada agency promoting business growth has urged companies to embrace new restrictions as coronavirus cases soar. Kentucky continued setting records with 2,135 new confirmed coronavirus cases reported, the state’s highest daily number on a Monday since the pandemic again. Gary Herbert on Monday relaxed restrictions on social gatherings ahead of Thanksgiving weekend as coronavirus cases and hospitalizations continue to surge. Also on Monday, Spain’s 14-day cumulative number of COVID-19 cases per 100,000 population — a key metric in measuring the pandemic’s spread — has continued to fall.

LONDON – University of Oxford scientists expect to report results from the late-stage trials of their COVID-19 vaccine by Christmas, a key researcher said Thursday as he discussed the team’s latest findings. Oxford is developing its vaccine in conjunction with the drugmaker AstraZeneca. “I think we’re getting close, and it’s definitely going to be before Christmas based on the progress,” Pollard said in an interview with the BBC. Phase II vaccine trials provide important preliminary data but don’t prove whether they ultimately prevent people from getting sick. Despite recent progress, Pollard said the world is still in the early stages of the effort to protect people against COVID-19.

There were 1,225 new confirmed COVID-19 cases increasing the state total to 60,873. ___WASHINGTON -- Pharmaceutical companies Pfizer and BioNTech will seek emergency government approval for their coronavirus vaccine, as the U.S. aims to begin administering doses by the end of the year. ___LOUISVILLE, Kentucky — Kentucky reported a new daily record of 3,649 coronavirus cases Thursday amid warnings by Gov. He and public health experts are warily watching the number of patients hospitalized with the COVID-19 disease caused by the coronavirus. ___WASHINGTON — Infection disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci says he “wants to settle” concerns about a coronavirus vaccine as he returns to the White House podium for the first time in months.

On Friday, Oct. 23, 2020, AstraZeneca Inc. announced that the Food and Drug Administration is letting it resume testing of its COVID-19 vaccine candidate in the U.S. (Siphiwe Sibeko/Pool via AP)Two drugmakers announced Friday the resumption of U.S. testing of their COVID-19 vaccine candidates. Testing of AstraZeneca’s vaccine candidate had been halted since early September, while Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine study was paused at the beginning of last week. Testing of the AstraZeneca vaccine, developed with Oxford University, has already resumed in the United Kingdom, Brazil, South Africa and Japan. AstraZeneca testing had also been paused earlier in the summer. Johnson & Johnson said it’s preparing to resume recruitment soon for its U.S. vaccine study.

This combination of 2020 and 2015 photos shows, from left, Reinhard Genzel, astrophysicist at the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics; Andrea Ghez, professor of physics and astronomy at UCLA, and Roger Penrose, of the University of Oxford. On Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2020, they shared the Nobel Prize in Physics for advancing our understanding of black holes. (Matthias Balk/dpa, Elena Zhukova/UCLA, Danny Lawson/PA via AP)

On Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2020, they shared the Nobel Prize in Physics for advancing our understanding of black holes. He said our galaxy and the galaxies near us “will ultimately get swallowed by one utterly huge black hole. “If you fall into a black hole, then you pretty well inevitably get squashed into this singularity at the end. It was a black hole. Not just an ordinary black hole, but a supermassive one, 4 million times the mass of our sun.

In this handout photo released by the University of Oxford a volunteer participates in the vaccine trial in Oxford, England on July 7, 2020. Even as the latest experimental vaccine appeared to show promise, politicians in Washington seemed far apart in finding a way to bring financial relief to Americans. British researchers first began testing the vaccine in April in about 1,000 people, half of whom got the experimental vaccine. Such early trials are designed to evaluate safety and see what kind of immune response was provoked, but cant tell if the vaccine truly protects. We are seeing good immune response in almost everybody, said Dr. Adrian Hill, director of the Jenner Institute at Oxford University.

Africas first participation in a COVID-19 vaccine trial has begun as volunteers received injections developed at the University of Oxford in Britain. The large-scale trial is being conducted in South Africa, Britain and Brazil. The large-scale trial is being conducted in South Africa, Britain and Brazil. South Africa has nearly one-third of Africa's confirmed cases with more than 106,000, including more than 2,100 deaths. Cameroon, Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya and South Africa all have highly developed clinical trial capabilities, said Salim Abdool Karim, chair of South Africa's ministerial advisory committee for COVID-19.