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AstraZeneca Vaccine Study; Pro-Navalny Demonstrations Gain Momentum; Schools in Europe Remain Closed; Patriots Flying Health Care Workers to Super Bowl. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired February 03, 2021 - 06:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

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[06:31:01]

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: OK, breaking medical news. A new study finds that the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine not only protects people from serious illness, it may also drastically reduce transmission of the virus. That's huge. The Oxford study, which has not yet been peer reviewed, finds that the vaccine could cut transmission by nearly two-thirds.

Joining us now to talk about all of this is Professor Abdool Karim, he's the chair of the South African Government's Coronavirus Advisory Panel. He's known colloquially as the Dr. Anthony Fauci of South Africa. I hope you like that comparison.

Dr. Abdool Karim, thank you very much for being here.

Let's just dive right in.

If this study is proven to be accurate, then the AstraZeneca not only helps -- not only prevents someone who receives that vaccine from getting severely ill or dying, it cuts down on the transmission. That person who receives the vaccine can't be a carrier as much as we thought.

Your take on this?

SALIM ABDOOL KARIM, CO-CHAIR, SOUTH AFRICAN MINISTERIAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON COVID-19: Yes, a very good afternoon.

It's really an important finding. One has to say that usually we want to see what is called a second re-attack rate. So, in other words, we take vaccinated people, non-vaccinated people, and we look at their family members and work colleagues and we look at how many of them are becoming infected. And we look at how much lower the secondary attack rate is among vaccinated versus non-vaccinated.

This study did not measure that. Instead, it was an indirect measure by looking at swabs and trying to use swabs as a proxy for those who are infectious. And so the result itself is a promising start. It's very promising that two-thirds of the individuals did not have a positive swab or had minimal infectiousness. And that gives us some idea about what the potential value is of this vaccine in preventing the ongoing spread.

CAMEROTA: So just so I understand, what the scientists did was, the people who had received the vaccine, they then, a week later or two weeks later or three weeks later swabbed their nasal passages and didn't find presence of the infection of COVID. And so, if you don't have the -- if you're not a carrier for COVID, you can't transmit it.

So that seems like it could be a game changer.

KARIM: Yes, so when we look at the way in which this virus spreads, it's -- we are trying to reach a point of herd immunity. Herd immunity is where those who are vaccinated and those who have natural immunity are not getting infected, or if they are they're not transmitting it.

But what this is telling us is that two-thirds of those who were vaccinated are not transmitting. But one-third of them may be transmitting. So it -- we'll have to readjust our thinking about herd immunity because (INAUDIBLE) usually we expect vaxinees not to transmit.

Now, when you look at these results, what they are saying is that when you're swabbing individuals who have been vaccinated, that two out of three of the vaxinees do not have detectable virus even though they are infected. That's a very positive outcome. For us, that's an indication that's answering a critical question, which is, do vaxinees spread the virus? And the answer to that now is only about a third spread the virus. The other two-thirds don't.

CAMEROTA: Since you're coming to us from South African, I want to ask you about the South African variant. What do we know about it? Is it more deadly?

KARIM: So when we look at the evidence that we've been able to accumulate now over a second wave, where the 501Y.V2 variant is the dominant variant, what we have seen is that the virus is spreading faster. And there are various estimates, but it looks like somewhere in the region of around 50 percent faster.

The early evidence does not suggest that it's more -- it's causing more severe disease.

[06:35:03]

But that might change as we get -- accumulate more death at the end of the week.

I should just point out that even though the virus and this particular variant was first described in South Africa, it actually might not have even emanated from South Africa. So it's inappropriate to call it the South African variant. It's better just to call it by its name, 501Y.V2.

And we now know that's in about 31 countries.

CAMEROTA: No, you're right. Absolutely. I mean you're right. And I don't mean to disparage South Africa. It's just that a handy shorthand. But I know that you -- that doctors don't like that when we give a geographic origin because we don't know that to be true.

But in terms of the 501Y.V2 variant, is it resistant to the existing vaccines? Do we know that?

KARIM: Critical question. Absolutely critical.

What we do know is as follows. From studies done by Professor Moore (ph) here in Johannesburg, that about half of the individuals in a study of 44 patients who were infected in the first wave, that all 44 have antibodies that neutralize the viruses from the first wave. But about half of them are not able to recognize or neutralize the 501Y.V2 variant. That poses a problem because it now means that about half of the individuals from the first wave may become re-infected if exposed. And that poses a problem because it now means that past infectious is not protection against this new variant.

With regard to vaccines, almost every one of the vaccines that has been studied against this variant in different ways, either in the laboratory or in clinical studies, we have shown that -- it has -- they have shown that the 501Y.V2 variant is more difficult to neutralize. And that -- the efficacy is lower. And the most dramatic of those was a result released on Thursday where the Novavax vaccine was 89 percent effective in the U.K., but only 49 percent effective in South Africa. Deeply concerning.

CAMEROTA: Understood.

Professor Abdool Karim, thank you very much for all of the information. Great to have you on the program with us.

KARIM: A pleasure.

CAMEROTA: More than a thousand people arrested overnight in Russia as protests grow over the jailing of Putin critic Alexey Navalny. We have a live report from Moscow, next.

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[06:41:34]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: New details this morning about the first- known search warrants for people who allegedly organized and spoke at rallies proceeding the deadly Capitol insurrection.

CNN as learned the FBI recently raided the homes of Russell Taylor and Alan Hostetter, both in Orange County, California. The two men are well known for promoting conspiracy theories ranging from QAnon and the deep state to those involving coronavirus and the election. They held an inflammatory rally near the U.S. Supreme Court on the eve of the Capitol attack.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALAN HOSTETTER, FOUNDER, AMERICAN PHOENIX PROJECT: Our voices tomorrow are going to put the fear of God in the cowards and the traitors, the rhinos, the communists of the Democrat Party. They need to know we, as a people, a hundred million strong, are coming for them if they do the wrong thing.

RUSSELL TAYLOR, BOARD MEMBER, AMERICAN PHOENIX PROJECT: In these streets, we will fight and we will bleed before we allow our freedom to be taken from us.

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BERMAN: Neither man has been charged with any crimes.

CAMEROTA: Developing overnight, more than a thousand people arrested in Russia amid new protests after prominent Putin critic Alexey Navalny was sentenced to two and a half years in prison.

CNN's Frederik Pleitgen is live in Moscow with more for us.

What's happening today, Fred?

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, there, Alisyn.

Yes, and I was on the ground there for the better part of the night as all that was unfolding and it really was an absolutely remarkable scene. After Alexey Navalny was sentenced to spend more than 2.5 years in prison, his supporters called for people to try and march towards the Kremlin. And the Kremlin responded with an absolutely suffocating show of force from its riot police. The entire Kremlin was surrounded by riot cops. They went then through the streets and started detaining people on a massive scale.

We were in one place where dozens of people were put into one of those police detention buses, and that's something that really continued throughout the better part of the night.

In total, just in Moscow alone, more than 1,100 people taken into detention. That came after that remarkable trial where Alexey Navalny really didn't hold back and absolutely ripped into Vladimir Putin, saying that Putin will be remembered, quote, as Putin the poisoner. I can't even tell you how dangerous it is for someone to say that in a public setting.

Of course, Alexey Navalny was then sentenced to those 2.5 years -- well, more than 2.5, probably, years in prison that he's now going to have to serve. His lawyers say that they are going to go into revision. They're at least going to try and do that.

We did get in touch with the Kremlin this morning, by the way, and the Kremlin not backing down even an inch, saying they believe that the harsh response by the riot police yesterday was absolutely justified. They also are now simply referring to Navalny as the convict and saying that it's not up to, quote, the convict to decide how Vladimir Putin will be remembered in history, guys.

CAMEROTA: Oh, my goodness.

Fred Pleitgen, thank you very much for all of that reporting from the ground for us. So, back here, President Biden is pushing to reopen schools despite concerns about new, highly contagious variants. But schools in the U.K. are closing. So which is the right path? We have details in a live report, next.

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[06:48:42]

BERMAN: So a stark contrast this morning. President Biden is pushing for most schools in the United States that serve k-8 students to be open, if they're not already, by late April. In Europe, though, the opposite is happening.

CNN's Max Foster reports a trend toward new closings as fears of the new variants rise.

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MAX FOSTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The holidays are long over, but many classrooms across Europe are still empty. In the U.K., schools have been closed to the vast majority of students since the beginning of the year. A surge in coronavirus cases and new, more transmissible variants have forced the government to backtrack on earlier promises to get children back into school for in-person learning.

BORIS JOHNSON, U.K. PRIME MINISTER: I must inform the house that for the reasons I have outlined it will not be possible to reopen schools immediately after the February half-term.

FOSTER: But some education leaders say the government has been too slow in taking action.

KEVIN COURTNEY, JOINT GENERAL SECRETARY. U.K. NATIONAL EDUCATION UNION: We were saying to government that really they should be looking at allowing schools to go to online teaching in the -- in the last few weeks before Christmas. I think if they had done that, we wouldn't have had quite the level of the peak that we've had in this country.

FOSTER: It's a similar story for many of Britain's neighbors. Schools in Portugal remained open even during the country's strict, national lockdown in early January.

[06:50:06]

But a devastating increase in both cases and deaths has since pushed the government to enforce tougher rules, ordering schools and universities to close for at least two weeks with few exceptions.

The government says it's a necessary measure to stem the spread of the variant first found in the U.K., but some parents feel it's little, too late.

PEDRO ALMEIDA, FATHER: This is a measure that should have been taken a long time ago, especially before Christmas, when there were fewer positive cases. They would have had fewer consequences for our children's learning.

FOSTER: The lack of consensus on whether school closures are necessary is evident across the continent. Along with the U.K. and Portugal, Germany and Ireland have opted to keep school doors closed to students under most circumstances. Italy and Sweden are taking a regional approach, allowing some in-person teaching in combination with online classes depending on local infection rates, while the Netherlands will allow kindergarten and elementary school students to return next week.

And in France, Spain and Switzerland, schools are open, but with precautionary measures in place, such as mask wearing, social distancing, and staggered attendance. One expert at a leading medical journal told CNN that whilst there may not be consensus on the best approach, decisions on whether schools should remain open need to be considered on a local level.

JANE GODSLAND, EDITOR IN CHIEF, "THE LANCET CHILD AND ADOLESCENT HEALTH": Different countries have to make decisions based on their situation. Not all countries have the same level of infection. And I think schools -- school closures should be considered within the local prevalence.

FOSTER: But with new variants on the rise in Europe and beyond, the issue of how soon governments are able to lift restrictions on schools remains a divisive topic. From whether children need to wear masks, to whether educators should be made to teach face-to-face. For now, there's little consensus and little clarity.

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FOSTER: What scientists here will tell you is that there's little evidence to suggest that schools drive infection rates up. They rather reflect what's happening already in the community. But it's not clear if that's still the case with these new, more transmissible variants, John, which is why many governments are taking the more cautionary approach in keeping schools closed.

BERMAN: The new variants pose new questions, to be sure. Science is trying to catch up with where we are right now.

Max Foster, thanks so much for being with us.

We have live pictures inside the U.S. Capitol. Officer Brian Sicknick lying in honor in the building he died defending.

And we're getting new reporting this morning about how Kevin McCarthy is leaning in handling QAnon Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene. Stay tuned.

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[06:57:15]

CAMEROTA: Seventy-six vaccinated health care workers are heading to the Super Bowl on the New England Patriots' team plane.

Andy Scholes has more in the "Bleacher Report."

Hi, Andy.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, good morning, Alisyn.

You know, one of the cool parts of this Super Bowl is, even though they're having a limited attendance, the NFL is honoring 7,500 vaccinated health care workers from around the country with free tickets to the game. And, yesterday, Patriot's owners Robert Kraft, he surprised some front line heroes in his area with the news they were going.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT KRAFT, NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS OWNER: What are you guys doing this weekend? Would you like to go to the Super Bowl?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you kidding?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What? What is going on?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you kidding me?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No way. No way.

KRAFT: We just want you all to know how much we appreciate what you've done and what you represent.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: Awesome surprise. And Kraft is going to fly the group down to Tampa on the Patriot' private plane. That's the same plane that delivered more than a million N-95 masks from China last April. Workers from all six New England states were chosen for the all- expenses paid trip.

All right, another day, another record for Tom Brady. The sports apparel company Fanatic says they've sold more Brady merchandise between the conference championship game and the Super Bowl than any player ever. Of course, most of the sales coming from Tampa. But Fanatics did say there's been very strong sales in the northeast. In particular, one house continues to just buy every single Brady merchandise thing they put out there.

Berman, do you know anything about that?

BERMAN: You know, I would not buy anything of him wearing Tampa uniforms, but -- but, you know.

CAMEROTA: You won't? I thought you just loved him wherever -- he's portable. Your love is portable with him.

BERMAN: Who says he has to wear anything. Wait, is that my outside voice? That was my outside voice. CAMEROTA: Wow.

SCHOLES: Oh, man.

BERMAN: Burned again.

CAMEROTA: Thanks.

BERMAN: All right, Andy, thank you very much.

SCHOLES: All right. See you.

CAMEROTA: And -- oh, God.

And NEW DAY continues right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Kevin McCarthy needs to strip Marjorie Taylor Greene of her committee assignments.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It may be too little, too late. She's still going to be a member of the House.

SEN. JOE MANCHIN (D-WV): I just need to speak up. The worst thing can happen is we can get defeated.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The hope is that there will be enough fair-minded Senate Republicans who are going to follow the facts and hold him accountable.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is probably not likely that these 17 Republicans to change their view and convict for the impeachment.

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC): Question for the Democratic Party is, how much pain are you going to put us through until we get to a verdict of acquittal?

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[07:00:05]

ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Alisyn Camerota and John Berman.