What you need to know: National health officials have published answers to common questions regarding virus variants as fear and confusion about the efficacy of vaccines against them increases.
Vaccines have different success rates against different variants, according to a report from The New York Times, meaning those who have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine may still be protected for the even-more infectious variants.
The variants are “all the more reason to get vaccinated,” said Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease specialist. “The bottom line is the vaccines we are using very well protect against the most dominant variant we have right now, and to varying degrees protect against serious disease among several of the other variants.”
Earlier this week, S.C. health officials paused distribution of the J&J vaccine based on federal recommendations.
Latest COVID-19 data
South Carolina health officials reported 847 confirmed cases of the coronavirus on Friday, with two confirmed deaths.
With 25,005 tests reported Friday, 4.4% were positive.
Confirmed cases in S.C.: 474,358 (+847)
Total positive cases in Charleston County: 41,849 (+108)
Total positive cases in Berkeley County: 16,815 (+36)
Total positive cases in Dorchester County: 17,015 (+18)
Deaths in S.C. from COVID-19: 8,195 (+2)
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