Essential Covid news. January 19

Over the last 24 hours, Lithuania has registered 717 new cases of Covid-19 infection and 18 more deaths, the Department of Statistics reported this morning.

Also listed are 7 coronavirus deaths when the actual date of death was earlier. Since the beginning of the pandemic, 168,708 cases of the coronavirus have been diagnosed in the country. So far, 2,494 people have died from COVID-19.

50,933 people received a first dose of the coronavirus vaccine, 2,460 people – the second dose. According to a study published on Monday, people who previously had COVID-19 may be immune from repeat infection for at least six months.

Scientists in the USA and Switzerland have studied dozens of people with COVID-19 antibodies and found that while their levels may decline over time, enough specific B cells (B lymphocytes) remain in the body.

These cells can remember the pathogen and, faced with a re-infection, stimulate the immune system to resume the production of antibodies against the virus. “The memory response is responsible for protecting against re-infection and is essential for effective vaccination,” the journal Nature says.

“The observation that B cells do not disappear after 6.2 months but are still growing clearly indicates that people infected with SARS-CoV-2 can respond quickly and effectively to the virus,” the study said.

On Tuesday, Gitanas Nausėda met remotely with members of the Council of Health Experts, president of the Association of Lithuanian Local Governments and mayor of the Jonuva region Mindaugas Sinkevičius, as well as representatives of the Ministry of Healthcare.

During the meeting, current issues regarding the strategy to combat the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic were discussed. “Lithuania has been hard hit by the second wave of the pandemic. We must conclude this struggle as soon as possible and the best way to ensure this is to obtain herd immunity through vaccination as soon as possible,” he said.

In order to create collective immunity, it is necessary to vaccinate about 70% of the inhabitants by mid-July. This would require 4 million doses of the vaccine.

To achieve this goal, it is necessary to vaccinate an average of 10 thousand people a day. From the end of March, an average of 34,000 people should be vaccinated daily, including weekends and public holidays.

Source: ZW.lt