Coronavirus vaccine news, updates and information for 6-30-2021

<p>This is Vaccine 411, the latest coronavirus vaccine information for June 30th, 2021.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>A new poll shows Americans are worried about the Delta variant…just not worried enough to do anything about it. The Ipsos poll shows more than 70% are at least somewhat concerned about it, but only 55% are wearing a mask all or sometimes when they leave the house and only 34% social distanced in the past week. And even if there was a new spike in cases, respondents were mostly unlikely to say they’d start taking precautions again. </p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>The National Institute of Health said two blood serum studies show India's Covaxin vaccine effectively neutralizes both Alpha and Delta variants of coronavirus. Covaxin has been administered to roughly 25 million people so far in India and elsewhere. It works using a disabled form of the virus that can’t replicate but still stimulates the immune system to make antibodies against it. </p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>New testing also shows Moderna's vaccine to be only slightly less effective against the Delta variant than others. The vaccine provoked an antibody response against all the variants tested, but it was far more effective against the Delta variant than the Beta variant first identified in South Africa.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Bad timing. Daily cases have been going up for nine days in Tokyo, triggering fears of a possible fifth wave. And that’s happening less than a month before the city is due to host the Olympics. The minister overseeing Japan’s pandemic response said they won’t hesitate to call a new state of emergency if necessary.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Being in charge of the pandemic response in any country is a nightmare. Try doing it in North Korea. Kim Jong Un publicly berated senior ruling party officials for their failures in the fight against the coronavirus, saying it created a “huge crisis.” He criticized them for incompetence, irresponsibility and passiveness. And yet, North Korea still claims not to have found a single coronavirus infection.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><