Coronavirus vaccine and COVID variant updates for 02-24-2022

<p>This is Vaccine 411, the latest coronavirus vaccine information for February 24th, 2022.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>The US full vaccination rate is still quite a way from even 70%, and it doesn’t look like it’s going to get any better. Demand has all but collapsed, especially in states that weren’t so hot on it to begin with. The average number of Americans getting their first shot is down to the lowest point since December 2020. Incentive programs didn’t really work, and government and employer mandates are being challenged in every way they can be challenged.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>If you felt like crap the day after getting your second vaccine shot, it may be because the experts gave you some bad advice. US health officials now say some people really need to wait up to eight weeks between the first and second doses. For the rest of us who already got it, we were told to get it in three to four weeks. Not only does the longer interval help avoid side effects, the CDC says it also provides more lasting protection. </p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>A new report says the government in the UK is getting increasingly certain the pandemic did in fact result from a lab leak in Wuhan, China. In fact, it is now the official view. You’ll remember that theory was rapidly dismissed by world governments and its proponents derided by health experts early in the pandemic. Many still call even trying to find out how the pandemic happened a distraction.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Better late than never? The French pharmaceuticals giant Sanofi said its Covid vaccine, developed with GlaxoSmithKline, delivered positive results after nearly a year of delays and now they’ll seek FDA authorization in the US. The results weren’t just positive. Tests indicated a 100% effectiveness against severe Covid and hospitalization. It doesn’t use mRNA technology; it’s based on recombinant protein tech like Novavax’s vaccine. </p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>If you start seeing smiling faces on employees of Target, that’s because the store will no longer require its staff or shoppers to we