New York City releases preliminary ranked choice vote count — and then pulls it

<div><img class="ff-og-image-inserted" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/616wFHbtY4_NmAA66rubeswRZZc=/0x214:4215x2421/fit-in/1200x630/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22689666/GettyImages_1233587271.jpg" /></div> <p>New York City’s great experiment with <a href="https://www.vox.com/22443775/ranked-choice-voting-explained-new-york-strategy">ranked-choice voting</a> continued Tuesday as the city’s board of elections reallocated ballots from <a href="https://www.vox.com/2021/6/22/22544407/nyc-mayor-yang-adams-garcia-ranked-choice">last week’s Democratic mayoral primary</a> for the first time — and screwed up the count so badly they had to take it down and apologize hours later.</p> <p>In a statement, the <a href="https://twitter.com/BOENYC/status/1410061665471811591">board explained</a> that in addition to more than 700,000 real ballots, they had accidentally included about 135,000 “test” ballots in the count that weren’t from actual voters. And obviously that would... throw things off a bit.</p> <p>This was never supposed to be the final count, since over 100,000 absentee ballots weren’t included in this preliminary tally. But it was supposed to give the first real glimpse into what reallocation could end up looking like, and the impact ranked-choice voting has had on the race.</p> <p>The real, though incomplete, first-round results tallied on election night showed Eric Adams in first place, Maya Wiley in second, Kathryn Garcia in third, and Andrew Yang in fourth. But in a ranked choice count, what happens next is reallocation. The lowest-ranking candidates are eliminated, one by one. Then, ballots for eliminated candidates are reallocated to whoever those voters ranked next, if anyone.</p> <p>The incorrect preliminary tally released by the board showed things getting surprisingly close after reallocation. But since they included so many bogus ballots in their count, it can’t be relied on. So we’re still basically in the dark about where things are.</p> <p>The whole situation is an embarrassment for the city’s board of elections, which has long had <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/26/nyregion/nyc-voting-election-board.html">a reputation for incompetence</a>.</p> <p><em>This story originally analyzed the incorrect tally released by New York City’s board of elections. References to that tally have been removed.</em></p> <br /> <br /> source <a href="https://www.vox.com/2021/6/29/22556310/kathryn-garcia-new-york-ranked-choice-mayor">https://www.vox.com/2021/6/29/22556310/kathryn-garcia-new-york-ranked-choice-mayor</a>

vox New York City releases preliminary ranked choice vote count — and then pulls it

New York City’s great experiment with ranked-choice voting continued Tuesday as the city’s board of elections reallocated ballots from las...

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China Crushed Jack Ma. Rivals Like Tencent, ByteDance, JD.com Are Next

<div class="ins_instory_dv"> <div class="ins_instory_dv_cont"><img alt="China Crushed Jack Ma. Rivals Like Tencent, ByteDance, JD.com Are Next" src="https://c.ndtvimg.com/2021-06/umkcgnjo_jack-ma-bloomberg_625x300_30_June_21.jpg" title="China Crushed Jack Ma. Rivals Like Tencent, ByteDance, JD.com Are Next" /></div> <p class="ins_instory_dv_caption sp_b">Regulators have worked to check Ant Group's influence, and the future is looking a lot less profitable.</p> </div> <p>It's been eight months since Jack Ma, the most famous business executive China has ever produced, all but dropped from public view. Eight months and, by conservative estimates, some $70 billion.</p> <p>That's the optimistic view on how much Ma's Ant Group Co. has plummeted in value since the outspoken billionaire openly pushed back against Beijing-and Chinese authorities promptly quashed Ant's plans for a blockbuster initial public offering. Inside Ant, the financial-technology giant Ma spun out of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., the real costs are still being tallied. Followers of "Daddy Ma," China's answer to Jeff Bezos, have been brought to heel by higher powers: China's president, Xi Jinping, and his right-hand man on the economy, Liu He.</p> <p>A team from the nation's top financial regulators now demand regular updates from Ant Chief Executive Officer Eric Jing and his staff on the progress of a state-ordered business overhaul, according to people familiar with the matter. New initiatives must be vetted by officials. And authorities have discussed installing a government representative in Ant's senior executive ranks to keep tabs on the company, says one of the people, who asked not to be identified speaking on a sensitive issue.</p> <div class="ins_instory_dv"> <div class="ins_instory_dv_cont"><img alt="nrgvl91o" class="lozad" src="https://c.ndtvimg.com/2021-06/nrgvl91o_bloomberg-pic_625x300_30_June_21.jpg" /></div> <p class="ins_instory_dv_caption">A team from China's top financial regulators now demand regular updates from Ant Chief Executive Officer and his staff on the progress of a state-ordered business overhaul, according to people familiar with the matter.</p> </div> <p>So it goes across big tech in China, where freewheeling, internet-age capitalism, and the wealth and influence it brings, has collided with the aims and ambitions of the Chinese Communist Party. What regulators describe as "rectification" is under way, and it's also affecting the finance operations of Tencent Holdings Ltd., JD.com Inc., TikTok owner ByteDance Ltd. and ride-hailing giant Didi Chuxing. U.S. and European officials have been wondering for years what to do with the big tech companies that have amassed so much power. China's answer is to assert control.</p> <p>In fintech, that means forcing upstarts like Ant to behave more like old-fashioned banks. It also means tipping the balance of power in the nation's huge, debt-ridden financial industry back toward well-connected state-owned banks that toe the party line. Beijing says China's big Internet and fintech companies have abused their market power. Xi wants to bridle innovators without strangling innovation and reduce financial risks without diminishing economic rewards. The question is, can he?</p> <p>Ant and its peers have taken some hard blows. Regulators have worked to check their influence, and the future is looking a lot less profitable. Lending online to hundreds of millions of Chinese, the biggest engine of growth, is forecast by Bloomberg Intelligence to shrink 23% over five years, as will money flowing to investment products sold by fintech platforms. The payments ecosystem will now be closely policed. "We are entering a period of major upheaval as Beijing reshapes its relationship with tech giants-expect tighter controls to stay here long-term," says Beijing-based Liao Ming, a founding partner of Prospect Avenue Capital, which manages $500 million in assets. "Beijing's priorities have shifted."</p> <p>The trouble began in October, when Ma publicly lambasted global financial regulators and conventional bankers. He said they were out of touch and stifled innovation. In a little over a week, the Ant IPO was put on ice. Authorities have since issued new rules on everything from consumer lending to leverage to monopolies in online payments. Regulators and state media have tapped into strands of popular resentment toward China's hyper-wealthy moguls, criticizing the companies for miring the poor and the young in debt.</p> <p>More than a dozen technology companies have been told they may need to restructure their financial divisions into entities that will be more like banks and supervised by the People's Bank of China. Everything from how consumer data is collected and used, to how loans get made, and to whom, is under scrutiny, as are overseas listings and ownership structures.</p> <p>First up is Ant. Its most-lucrative business-extending small online loans to shoppers in partnership with banks-is now capped at less than 300 billion yuan ($46.4 billion) under a newly licensed unit, from more than double that and growing a year ago, Jefferies' Hong Kong-based analyst Shujin Chen estimates. Adding to the strain, state banking partners are pulling back from fintech at the behest of regulators. "The power dynamics have shifted in that state entities will be ever-more vigilant of fintech activities," says Joel Gallo, CEO of Guangzhou-based consulting firm Columbia China League Business Advisory Co.</p> <div class="ins_instory_dv"> <div class="ins_instory_dv_cont"><img alt="pl850mpo" class="lozad" src="https://c.ndtvimg.com/2021-06/pl850mpo_bloomberg-gfx-_625x300_30_June_21.jpg" /></div> </div> <p>More pain lies ahead. Ant and rival Tencent have been told to sever the "improper links" that long steered a billion users of their ubiquitous payment apps-Ant's Alipay and Tencent's WeChat Pay-toward higher-paying services such as loans and fund management. Regulators have yet to rule on how the two companies, which dominate mobile payments, can direct traffic on their apps and use the wealth of data they gather.</p> <p>And the PBOC is weighing new rules for curbing monopolies in online payments, while at the same time trying to launch a venture that would take charge of the data those platforms collect and share it with rivals. "The Chinese government implemented regulations too little, too late to prevent Alipay and Tencent's payment business from dominating the industry," says Singapore-based Zennon Kapron, managing director of consulting firm Kapronasia. "Although they are homegrown champions, the Chinese government prefers a more balanced market."</p> <p>The sudden turn in fortunes is brewing discontent. A number of Ant employees, including senior executives, are actively hunting for other jobs as they become concerned about the dwindling value of their stock options, says Lion Niu, director at Beijing-based recruitment company CGL. Jing, who took the reins after former CEO Simon Hu unexpectedly resigned in March, has promised employees that the company will eventually go public. But what the recent upheaval will mean for the company's valuations is still unknown.</p> <p>Earnings multiples of traditional finance companies would value Ant somewhere between $29 billion and $115 billion, according to Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Francis Chan. That's well below the $320 billion that it was expected to fetch last year. Ant's early investors are more positive. Fidelity Investments, which owns 0.14% of Ant, has halved its estimate to about $144 billion at the end of February from $295 billion earlier. Warburg Pincus, with a 0.33% shareholding, has pegged it somewhere between $200 billion to $250 billion.</p> <p>Shares of Alibaba, which owns about a third of Ant, have slumped almost 30% since early November.</p> <p>The stakes are high. In March, Tencent plunged on a Bloomberg News report that it would have to fold its financial business into a holding company, supervised by the central bank. About $37 billion of market value was wiped out in a day. Two months later, local media reported that regulators had called for the overhaul.</p> <p>JD Technology, an arm of JD.com, China's No. 2 e-commerce site by net income, is waiting for clear instruction from the authorities before making any attempt to push deeper into finance, according to a person familiar with the matter. JD was widely ridiculed last year after it ran an ad showing a low-income worker borrowing money to pay for an airline upgrade. Some called for a customer boycott. Representatives for Ant and Tencent declined to comment, while JD Technology, the PBOC and China's banking regulator didn't respond to requests for comment.</p> <div class="ins_instory_dv"> <div class="ins_instory_dv_cont"><img alt="llkgg65g" class="lozad" src="https://c.ndtvimg.com/2021-06/llkgg65g_bloomberg-gfx-_625x300_30_June_21.jpg" /></div> </div> <p>"The rules foisted upon fintechs have taken off some of the luster of invincibility they have enjoyed," says Gallo. Meanwhile, the big banks are pressing their advantage. Last year, they collectively invested a record $31 billion in fintech. At Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd., the world's largest bank by assets, spending jumped 40%. ICBC hired 800 people in technology, bringing its total workforce in that one area to 35,400. Its banking app increasingly mimics Alipay, bundling travel, entertainment, and dining options, with a host of financial services for its 416 million users.</p> <p>Shares of China Merchants Bank, the retail banking leader, have soared almost 60% since Ant's IPO was suspended. Ant was told to shrink its money-market fund, once the world's largest. At the same time, Merchants Bank, based in the tech hub of Shenzhen, has opened investment products once reserved for the rich to mass-market clients with as little as 100,000 yuan to invest. Its retail assets under management climbed by a record of 650 billion yuan in the first quarter, to 9.6 trillion yuan.</p> <p>Traditional banks in China have long struggled to size up customers who don't have collateral or credit histories. Platforms like Ant helped revolutionize lending by crunching reams of new data from their payment systems, social media, and other sources to evaluate creditworthiness. Even when regulators ordered 13 top platforms to rein in their finance operations, they acknowledged the crucial role fintechs have played in improving efficiency and access and lowering transactions costs. "The intent is not to kill them," Bernstein analyst Kevin Kwek says of the fintechs.</p> <p>Ordinary people in China are hungry for loans. Yang Mei operates a small beauty parlor in the southwestern city of Chengdu. The 30-year-old got a 5,000 yuan loan via Ant last September to help pay for various beauty products. The rate: 185 yuan for three months, the rough equivalent of a 14.8% annual rate, which she calls "reasonable." She hoped to get another loan to fund an expansion but put those plans on hold after Ant was forced to restrict lending. She says she's reluctant to borrow elsewhere because she trusts the Ant brand.</p> <p>Li Lin, who owns a food processing factory in Sichuan province that churns out dairy products and hotpot sauce, says he's having a hard time getting loans from state-owned banks. He says even local banks are stingy with small business owners, who aren't considered prime clients. Li, 40, says he and fellow entrepreneurs continue to use small online lenders that fly under the radar of regulators and charge usurious rates pegged to the principal even after half the loan is repaid.</p> <p>"It's been extremely hard for small companies to get financing from state banks, and loan costs for us are very high," says Li. "It makes conducting business very challenging." </p> <p><em>-Lulu Yilun Chen, Jun Luo, and Zheng Li, with Heng Xie and Coco Liu</em></p> <p><i>(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)</i></p> <br /> <br /> source <a href="https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/china-crushed-jack-ma-rivals-like-tencent-bytedance-jd-com-are-next-2475693">https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/china-crushed-jack-ma-rivals-like-tencent-bytedance-jd-com-are-next-2475693</a>

news world China Crushed Jack Ma. Rivals Like Tencent, ByteDance, JD.com Are Next

Regulators have worked to check Ant Group's influence, and the future is looking a lot less profitable. It's been eight months s...

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Elon Musk's Starlink To Deliver Internet Nearly Worldwide Within Weeks

<div class="ins_instory_dv"> <div class="ins_instory_dv_cont"><img alt="Elon Musk's Starlink To Deliver Internet Nearly Worldwide Within Weeks" src="https://c.ndtvimg.com/2021-05/r5827v5o_elon-musk-bloomberg_625x300_18_May_21.jpg" title="Elon Musk's Starlink To Deliver Internet Nearly Worldwide Within Weeks" /></div> <p class="ins_instory_dv_caption sp_b">Elon Musk discussed additional upgrades in the works during an update on the $74 billion SpaceX business.</p> </div> <p>Elon Musk's satellite network Starlink is on track to beam broadband internet everywhere in the world except polar regions by August, he said on Tuesday.</p> <p>Space Exploration Technologies Corp. has launched more than 1,500 satellites so far and has Starlink operations in about a dozen countries, Musk said during a presentation at the Mobile World Congress conference. That's costing a lot. SpaceX's total investment in the network will be between $5 billion and $10 billion before cash flow is positive, he said.</p> <p>"We recently passed the strategically notable number of 69,420 active users," Musk joked. "We're I think on our way to having a few hundred thousand users, possibly over 500,000 users within 12 months."</p> <p>SpaceX aims to offer broadband to as much as 5% of the world's population where conventional fiber and wireless networks can't reach. Musk said he's signed two deals with "major country" telecom operators but he couldn't name them yet, and he's in discussions with more. Starlink will provide so-called "data back haul" spines for their networks. The satellite network currently moves about 30 terabits of data per second, and Musk said he's targeting a user latency -- or network response time -- of less than 20 milliseconds.</p> <p>Musk, who turned 50 on Monday, discussed several additional upgrades in the works during an update on the $74 billion SpaceX business.</p> <p>The company is set to launch a new version of Starlink's satellites next year that will have inter-satellite laser links to help them cover polar regions. Its engineers are developing a new ground terminal to stem losses: the dishes customers are currently installing on rooftops cost more than $1,000 to make but only retail for half that, he said.</p> <p>SpaceX is also planning an orbital flight of its giant Starship rocket "in the next few months" he said.</p> <p><i>(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)</i></p> <br /> <br /> source <a href="https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/elon-musks-starlink-to-deliver-internet-nearly-worldwide-within-weeks-2475679">https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/elon-musks-starlink-to-deliver-internet-nearly-worldwide-within-weeks-2475679</a>

news world Elon Musk's Starlink To Deliver Internet Nearly Worldwide Within Weeks

Elon Musk discussed additional upgrades in the works during an update on the $74 billion SpaceX business. Elon Musk's satellite netw...

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Kim Jong Un Says "Great Crisis" Caused By Unspecified Quarantine Lapse

<div class="ins_instory_dv"> <div class="ins_instory_dv_cont"><img alt="Kim Jong Un Says 'Great Crisis' Caused By Unspecified Quarantine Lapse" src="https://c.ndtvimg.com/2021-06/ol5faje4_kim-jong-un-bloomberg_625x300_30_June_21.jpg" title="Kim Jong Un Says 'Great Crisis' Caused By Unspecified Quarantine Lapse" /></div> <p class="ins_instory_dv_caption sp_b">North Korea sees Covid as a threat to its struggling economy and Kim Jong Un's rule, Cheong added.</p> </div> <p>North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said a "grave" situation stemming from quarantine negligence has created a crisis, hinting at Covid risks that could affect his rule after his regime has denied it has had any infections.</p> <p>There were no details of the nature of the incident in the report from the state's official Korean Central News Agency on Wednesday. Kim said through dereliction of duty, cadres neglected executing important decisions for prolonged national quarantine efforts, "creating a great crisis in ensuring the security of the state and safety of the people," KCNA reported.</p> <p>"He seriously pointed out that chronic irresponsibility and incompetence of cadres at present bring artificial difficulties to the implementation of the Party's policies and become a major brake doing tremendous harm to the development of the revolutionary work," according to the report.</p> <p>Even though North Korea says it has no cases of the coronavirus -- a claim doubted by U.S. and Japanese officials -- it has taken drastic quarantine steps that have worsened the regime's economic woes, including closing the border with its biggest trade partner, China. Covid-19 brings a large risk to the impoverished state, whose antiquated medical systems could easily be overwhelmed by an infection wave.</p> <p>"It would be a bit hasty to make any definitive conclusions based on the KCNA report, given it lacked in detail. But North Korea has been particularly sensitive about the pandemic as it lacks testing kits and medical facilities," said Cheong Seong-chang, director of the Unification Strategy Studies Program at Sejong Institute near Seoul.</p> <p>North Korea sees the virus as a threat to its already struggling economy and Kim's rule, Cheong added.</p> <p>North Korea's economy, which suffered its worst contraction in decades last year, is on track to barely grow in 2021 as the country struggles with the pandemic, border restrictions with China and international sanctions to punish it for nuclear-weapons testing, Fitch Solutions said in April.</p> <p>Pyongyang has taken strong action after incidents that could expose the country to the virus. About a year ago, Kim's regime locked down the border city of Kaesong out of fear a person who defected from South Korea may have carried the virus. It investigated the military unit responsible for patrols and pledged to "administer a severe punishment," to those responsible, its official media said.</p> <p>About two months after that in an incident near a nautical border, North Korean personnel shot a man who worked for South Korea's fisheries ministry and burned his body at sea. He was apparently treated that way because the North Korean personnel believed he could have been a carrier of the coronavirus, Yonhap News Agency cited a South Korean military official as saying at the time.</p> <p>Adding to the Covid risks, North Korea has received no vaccine doses through Covax, according to Gavi, the nonprofit group that delivers immunizations. "Work is ongoing and discussions continue," it said in a statement in June.</p> <p>North Korea was supposed to receive 1.7 million doses of the AstraZeneca Plc shot by the end of May, but shipments were delayed after North Korea was unwilling to follow Covax instructions and rules, Japan's Kyodo News reported.</p> <p>North Korea is eligible to receive vaccines through the program backed by the World Health Organization, but it has shown hesitancy. During the pandemic, the country's small international contingent of foreign officials and residents dwindled as it put pressure on them to leave. The Kim regime could see risks in bringing in more people from the outside world to deliver vaccines.</p> <p>The country's main newspaper, Rodong Sinmun, expressed doubt about vaccines in an article in June, saying they "may not be able to protect people from the virus spreading or new strains of the virus."</p> <p>The news on the quarantine incident follows a rare report on state TV last week that touched on Kim's health, a move that may be designed to generate sympathy as the country deals with food shortages and an economic downturn. North Koreans broke down in tears over seeing a dramatically thinner Kim, state TV cited a citizen as saying.</p> <p><em>- With assistance from Jeong-Ho Lee.</em></p> <p><i>(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)</i></p> <br /> <br /> source <a href="https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/kim-jong-un-says-great-crisis-caused-by-unspecified-quarantine-lapse-2475673">https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/kim-jong-un-says-great-crisis-caused-by-unspecified-quarantine-lapse-2475673</a>

news world Kim Jong Un Says "Great Crisis" Caused By Unspecified Quarantine Lapse

North Korea sees Covid as a threat to its struggling economy and Kim Jong Un's rule, Cheong added. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un s...

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In A Year, Hong Kong Arrests 117 People Under New Security Law

<div class="ins_instory_dv"> <div class="ins_instory_dv_cont"><img alt="In A Year, Hong Kong Arrests 117 People Under New Security Law" src="https://c.ndtvimg.com/2021-06/lkj7sctk_hong-kong-financial-district-reuters-650_625x300_30_June_21.jpg" title="In A Year, Hong Kong Arrests 117 People Under New Security Law" /></div> <p class="ins_instory_dv_caption sp_b">Graffiti has been removed from a fence at a site of the 2019 pro-democracy protests (File)</p> </div> <b class="place_cont">Hong Kong:</b> <p>Hong Kong authorities have arrested 117 people under a national security law imposed one year ago, charging more than 60, mostly democratic politicians, activists, journalists and students.</p> <p>On June 30, 2020, Beijing imposed the security law in Hong Kong following months of often-violent pro-democracy protests, effectively ending the unrest. The law punishes acts which China considers as subversion, secession, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces with up to life in prison.</p> <p>It entered into force as soon as it was published, just before midnight ahead of the July 1 anniversary of the former British colony's return to Chinese rule in 1997.</p> <p>Critics of the legislation, including some Western governments and rights groups, say it has been used to crush dissent. Its supporters say it was vital to plug national security "loopholes" exposed by the 2019 protests.</p> <p>In response to questions from Reuters, Hong Kong's Security Bureau said the security law has "stopped chaos and restored order," and that those arrested represent "a very small number of the population," which it calculated at "about 0.0016%".</p> <p>"We would like to emphasise that any law enforcement actions ...are based on evidence, strictly according to the law," a spokesman for the bureau said.</p> <p>The actions had "nothing to do with their political stance, background or profession," he said.</p> <p>Police said the youngest among the 117 was 15 at the time of the arrest, the oldest 79.</p> <p>Ten people were arrested on July 1 under the new law, during a protest against the legislation. The trial of Tong Ying-kit, who is accused of driving a motorbike into police officers while carrying a flag with a protest slogan, started last week after courts denied him bail and a jury, in line with the new law's provisions.</p> <p>Tong, the first person arrested under the legislation, faces charges of terrorism and inciting secession, as well as an alternative charge of dangerous driving. He pleaded not guilty to all charges.</p> <p>The biggest sweep under the new law was in January when more than 50 democratic activists and politicians were arrested in relation to an unofficial primary vote which the opposition organised independently to select their best candidates for a since-postponed election. Authorities say that vote was a "vicious plot" to subvert the government.</p> <p>Of these, 47 were charged with conspiracy to commit subversion on Feb. 28, and most of them were denied bail soon after and remain in detention.</p> <p>The highest-profile arrest was that of media tycoon and ardent Beijing critic Jimmy Lai in August 2020. Regarded as a "traitor" by Beijing and accused of colluding with foreign forces, Lai was charged months later. He is in prison serving several sentences for unauthorised assemblies related to the 2019 protests.</p> <p>This month, 500 police officers raided the newsroom of Lai's now-closed Apple Daily newspaper, arresting five executives on suspicion of colluding with a foreign country.</p> <p>Two Apple Daily journalists were arrested for similar reasons days later.</p> <p><i>(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)</i></p> <br /> <br /> source <a href="https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/in-one-year-hong-kong-arrests-117-people-under-new-security-law-2475672">https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/in-one-year-hong-kong-arrests-117-people-under-new-security-law-2475672</a>

news world In A Year, Hong Kong Arrests 117 People Under New Security Law

Graffiti has been removed from a fence at a site of the 2019 pro-democracy protests (File) Hong Kong: Hong Kong authorities have arrest...

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Moderna Says Its Covid Shot Produces Antibodies Against Delta Variant

<div class="ins_instory_dv"> <div class="ins_instory_dv_cont"><img alt="Moderna Says Its Covid Shot Produces Antibodies Against Delta Variant" src="https://c.ndtvimg.com/2021-06/d8o4bnc_moderna-inc-650_625x300_30_June_21.jpeg" title="Moderna Says Its Covid Shot Produces Antibodies Against Delta Variant" /></div> <p class="ins_instory_dv_caption sp_b">Shares of Moderna gained 5.9% at 10:24 a.m. in New York.</p> </div> <p>Moderna Inc. said its vaccine produced protective antibodies against the delta variant spreading in the U.S. and many other parts of the world.</p> <p>Moderna researchers tested blood samples from eight people for antibodies against versions of the spike protein from different coronavirus variants, including delta, which emerged in India. The vaccine "produced neutralizing titers against all variants tested," the company said in a statement. The results were released on the pre-print server bioRxiv.</p> <p>The protective proteins are called neutralizing antibodies because they're capable of preventing the virus from entering cells. Compared to the quantity of antibodies produced against the main version of the virus, neutralizing antibody levels against the delta variant were reduced by 2.1-fold.</p> <p>Shares of Moderna gained 5.9% at 10:24 a.m. in New York.</p> <p>Antibody levels were reduced by 4.2-fold against the eta strain first found Nigeria, and by eight-fold against a new variant identified in Angola called A.VOI.V2.</p> <p>The lab-based study did not directly measure vaccine effectiveness. Although reduced, the neutralizing antibody levels are still thought to be high enough to prevent disease, as the messenger RNA vaccine generates a strong immune reaction that creates a surplus of antibodies against the original strain.</p> <p>“We remain committed to studying emerging variants, generating data and sharing it as it becomes available. These new data are encouraging and reinforce our belief that the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine should remain protective against newly detected variants,” Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel said in the statement.</p> <p>Moderna earlier published research showing its vaccine produces neutralizing antibodies against the alpha, beta, and gamma variants that emerged in different regions.</p> <p><i>(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)</i></p> <br /> <br /> source <a href="https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/moderna-says-its-covid-shot-produces-antibodies-against-delta-variant-2475649">https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/moderna-says-its-covid-shot-produces-antibodies-against-delta-variant-2475649</a>

news world Moderna Says Its Covid Shot Produces Antibodies Against Delta Variant

Shares of Moderna gained 5.9% at 10:24 a.m. in New York. Moderna Inc. said its vaccine produced protective antibodies against the delta ...

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