
Pfizer vaccine provides less protection in cancer patients after a single dose, study finds
CNN
The Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine provides less protection in cancer patients than healthy individuals following a single dose, a new real-world study in the UK suggests, raising questions about whether the UK's strategy to delay second doses should apply to such patients.
A second dose of the vaccine at three weeks, however, boosted their protection significantly, with the researchers calling for earlier boosts in this group in the UK. The UK's vaccine strategy currently involves a 12-week gap between doses of the coronavirus vaccines; Pfizer recommends 21 days between doses. The study analyzed the impact of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine on 205 participants — 54 healthy volunteers and 151 elderly patients with solid cancers, such as breast or prostate cancer, and haematological (blood) cancers, such as leukemia. The preprint study has not yet been peer-reviewed or published.
Cuba is going dark under US pressure. How the crisis unfolded and why its troubles are far from over
Almost three months after the US effectively imposed an oil blockade on Cuba that worsened its energy crunch, nearly every aspect of Cuban society has been feeling the strain.

The Department of Homeland Security has been ensnared by a partial government shutdown as Congress did not act to fund the agency by the end of Friday. But nearly all DHS workers will remain on the job — even if many won’t get paid until the lapse ends — and the public probably won’t notice much of a change.











