This is Coronavirus 411, the latest COVID-19 info and new hotspots for November 26th, 2021.

The news we’ve been dreading, another variant of COVID-19 that is more mutated, more contagious, and more capable of evading the vaccines we have thus far. It’s called B.1.1.529 and it’s been identified in South Africa, Hong Kong, and Botswana. Senior scientists describe it as the worst variant they’d seen since the start of the pandemic with 32 mutations in the spike protein. That’s twice as many as in the Delta variant.

Because of the new variant, South Africa has been placed under England’s red list travel restrictions. About 500 to 700 people usually go to the UK from South Africa every day. The ban will also cover flights from Namibia, Botswana, and Zimbabwe. Scotland says all arrivals from the countries must self-isolate and take two PCR tests, then starting 4am tomorrow, stay at a managed quarantine hotel. And Israel is banning citizens from traveling to southern Africa and barring the entry of foreign travelers from the region.

If you’re still arguing with a friend over which is the better vaccine, Pfizer or Moderna, a large scale study out of Hungary says Moderna beats Pfizer in effectiveness. In fact, so does Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine. Moderna was 88.7% effective in protecting against infection vs Pfizer’s 83.3%, and Moderna was 93.6% effective against COVID mortality vs Pfizer’s 90.6%.

As expected, the EU authorized Pfizer’s vaccine for use on kids aged 5 to 11 years old. That means shots are coming to millions of elementary school pupils. Of course, at least one country didn't wait for authorization. Vienna, Austria had already started vaccinating 5 to 11-year-olds.

So with cases surging, ICU’s full, and staff vaccine mandates going into place, surely more healthcare workers are getting fully vaccinated, right? At the moment, as much as 30% of healthcare practitioners remain unvaccinated. HCPs working in children’s hospitals had the highest vaccination rates at 77%, followed by short- and long-term care ACHs at 70.1% and 68.8%, respectively. Critical access hospitals had vaccination rates of just 64%.

In the United States cases were up 20%, deaths are down 10%, and hospitalizations are up 11% over 14 days. The 7-day average of new cases has been trending up since November 3.

The five states that had the most daily deaths per 100,000 are Montana, Kentucky, West Virginia, Oregon, and Michigan.

There are 9,401,200 active cases in the United States.

The five states with the greatest increase in hospitalizations per capita: New Hampshire 54%, Michigan 46%, Massachusetts 42%, Indiana 36%, and Illinois and Maine 31%.

The top 10 counties with the highest number of recent cases per capita according to The New York Times: Big Horn, MT. Nome Census Area, AK. Scurry, TX. Dodge, MN. Mason, MI. Shiawassee, MI. Bethel Census Area, AK. Crawford, PA. Nodaway, MO. And Goodhue, MN.

There have been at least 775,785 deaths in the U.S. recorded as Covid-related.

The top 3 vaccinating states by percentage of population that’s been fully vaccinated: Vermont at 72.7%, Rhode Island unchanged at 72.2%, and Maine at 72.1%. The bottom 3 vaccinating states are West Virginia unchanged at 41.5%, Wyoming unchanged at 45.3%, and Alabama at 46%. The percentage of the U.S. that’s been fully vaccinated is unchanged at 59%.

Globally, cases were up 16% and deaths were down 3% over 14 days, with the 7-day average trending up since October 15.

There are 19,855,847 active cases around the world.

With U.S. reporting affected by the Thanksgiving holiday, the five countries with the most new cases: Germany 76,132. The U.K. 47,240. Russia 33,796. France 33,464. And Poland 28,128.

There have been at least 5,181,949 deaths reported as...

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