The Latest in COVID-19 News: Week Ending Mar. 20, 2021

By the Editors

This week, AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine came under the spotlight as international health regulators looked into a potential risk for blood clots post-vaccination — a concern that spurred some European countries to halt use of the vaccine. Ultimately, both the European Medicines Agency and the WHO concluded that the vaccine's safety outweigh any potential risks.

In other vaccine news, researchers reported that organ transplant recipients seem to have a limited antibody response to the COVID-19 mRNA vaccines.

Elsewhere, researchers from Denmark found that risk for SARS-CoV-2 reinfection is generally low — but seems to be higher in adults aged 65 and up.

In virus variant news, the CDC added two new SARS-CoV-2 variants to its list of variants of concern — B.1.427 and B.1.429. Both were first detected in California and now make up roughly 3% and 8%, respectively, of SARS-CoV-2 strains circulating in the U.S.

And finally, CDC researchers reported on the emotional and physical toll that virtual schooling has taken on students and parents alike.

Catch up on these and all of our COVID-19 stories from the past week at the links below.