HEALTH AND SCIENCE HIGHLIGHTS

July 9, 2021 (San Diego's East County) -- Our Health and Science Highlights provide cutting edge news that could impact your health and our future.

HEALTH

• Pfizer Says It Is Developing a Covid Booster Shot to Target the Highly Transmissible Delta Variant (NBC San Diego)
• Vaccine Side Effects vs. COVID-19 Damage? There’s No Comparison (Healthline)
• Pfizer vaccine protection takes a hit as Delta variant spreads, Israeli government says (CNN)

SCIENCE AND TECH

• A ‘Colossal’ Ransomware Attack Hits Hundreds Of U.S. Companies (NPR)
• Not even the government knows the full extent of how government is using facial recognition (Marketplace)
• Bitcoin miners break new ground in Texas, a state hailed as the new cryptocurrency capital (Washington Post)
• Don’t be that employee: How to avoid ransomware attacks at work (Washington Post)

For excerpts and links to full stories, click “read more” and scroll down.

HEALTH

Pfizer Says It Is Developing a Covid Booster Shot to Target the Highly Transmissible Delta Variant (NBC San Diego) 

Pfizer and BioNTech announced Thursday they are developing a Covid-19 booster shot intended to target the delta variant. Clinical studies could begin as early as August, subject to regulatory approvals. 

Vaccine Side Effects vs. COVID-19 Damage? There’s No Comparison (Healthline)

Experts say that the mild and rare side effects from COVID-19 vaccines are nowhere near as serious as the potential damage the disease itself can cause. They say that the long-term consequences of COVID-19 can include increased risk of stroke, lung damage, Alzheimer’s disease, and Parkinson’s disease.

Pfizer vaccine protection takes a hit as Delta variant spreads, Israeli government says (CNN)

The Israeli government says its analysis has shown the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine appears to be less effective against infections caused by the Delta variant compared to other strains of Covid-19. In a brief statement issued on Monday, the government said that as of June 6, the vaccine provided 64% protection against infection. In May -- when the Alpha variant dominated in Israel and the Delta strain had not yet spread widely -- it found that the shot was 95.3% effective against all infections.

SCIENCE AND TECH

A ‘Colossal’ Ransomware Attack Hits Hundreds Of U.S. Companies (NPR)

A ransomware attack paralyzed the networks of at least 200 U.S. companies on Friday, according to a cybersecurity researcher whose company was responding to the incident. The REvil gang, a major Russian-speaking ransomware syndicate, appears to be behind the attack

Not even the government knows the full extent of how government is using facial recognition (Marketplace)

Thirteen different agencies confirmed they did not know the the facial recognition systems used by employees.

Bitcoin miners break new ground in Texas, a state hailed as the new cryptocurrency capital (Washington Post)

The Lone Star State is at the center of global attention to produce bitcoin, thanks largely to the way it treats large electricity consumers.

Don’t be that employee: How to avoid ransomware attacks at work (Washington Post)

Ransomware attacks are getting bigger and more frequent, and that places a burden on companies. Here's how employees and employers can guard against hackers' most common tactics.