Two new studies found that the variant is unique, but shared a concerning mutation with the more contagious Brazilian and South African variants.
WATCH THE FULL EPISODE OF ‘WORLD NEWS TONIGHT’:
https://bit.ly/3aSaZr1
WATCH OTHER FULL EPISODES OF WORLD NEWS TONIGHT:
http://abc.go.com/shows/world-news-tonight
WATCH WORLD NEWS TONIGHT ON HULU:
https://bit.ly/3iQLwPp
#WorldNewsTonight #COVID19 #Variant
[Music] good evening it’s great to have you with us here on a thursday night and we’ll get to that former u.s gymnastics coach charged with abuse and other crimes and late today we’ve learned he has died by suicide we’ll get to that in a moment but we are going to begin with that new covet variant spreading quickly here in new york city researchers racing to find out whether it is more contagious more deadly and whether the current vaccines work against it meantime president bide marking a key milestone this afternoon 50 million shots at arms since he took office that’s half his goal of 100 million shots in his first 100 days now weeks ahead of schedule here in new york health officials say that new variant carries a mutation also found in the brazil and south africa variants that can weaken the body’s immune response and all eyes tonight now on johnson and johnson that fda hearing tomorrow emergency use authorization could come right after three to four million doses potentially next week 100 million doses by june and tonight the numbers 45 million americans have now received at least one dose that’s more than 13 percent of the population but of course not a moment too soon with concern now over these variants and the new one right here in new york abc’s with johnson leading us off tonight researchers are closely tracking a new covid variant now spreading rapidly through new york city two new studies finding the variant is unique but shares a concerning mutation with the more contagious brazilian and south african variants some health experts now raising questions about whether it could impact the effectiveness of vaccines or other treatments how worried are you about this new variant in new york city i’m concerned about this new variant are quite concerned it’s carrying certain very important mutations that would allow it to infect people who already have protection against the previous variant but researchers stress it’s not clear if this variant is more contagious or more deadly and further study is needed trying to stay one step ahead pfizer and moderna are already modifying vaccines to target the south african variant and both companies are also testing a third booster shot of the original formula to see if they offer more protection when the vaccine becomes available take it the longer one waits not getting vaccinated the better chance the virus has to get a variant or a mutation these new variants only adding to the urgency to speed up vaccinations here at the javits center in new york city now a mass vaccination hub they’ve already reached more than 71 thousand shots nationwide 66 million doses administered so far and today president biden marking another milestone half his goal of 100 million shots in his first 100 days 15 million shots in just 37 days since i’ve become president that’s weeks ahead of schedule even with the setbacks we faced during the recent winter storms but across the country a scramble to get that coveted shot in massachusetts 50 000 vaccine appointments snatched up in just 90 minutes the unlucky ones sent to a digital waiting room i now had 686 minutes in the wait line within a period of two minutes so it’s just been an exercise in futility but more vaccine could soon be on the way johnson and johnson ready to ship out three to four million doses of its one-shot vaccine as soon as the fda grants emergency use authorization which could come as early as tomorrow night and another sign of progress in new york city today more than 60 thousand middle schoolers heading back to the classroom today marks an important step towards reclaiming our lives with johnson in front of a middle school here in new york that just reopened one of the schools that did reopen today but i want to get back to that johnson johnson vaccine of course the one-shot vaccine we’ve been reporting on here wit and if they recommend emergency use authorization tomorrow after this key hearing give us a reality check here how much of this new vaccine could we see and how soon david those first vaccines could start shipping out as early as monday up to 4 million doses in the initial rollout next week then 20 million by the end of march and a total of 100 million doses expected by the end of june david all right johnson leading us off tonight on the coronavirus with thank you hi everyone george stephanopoulos here thanks for checking out the abc news youtube channel if you’d like to get more videos show highlights and watch live event coverage click on the right over here to subscribe to our channel and don’t forget to download the abc news app for breaking news alerts thanks for watching
