The following is a roundup of some of the latest scientific studies on the novel coronavirus and efforts to find treatments and vaccines for Covid-19, the illness caused by the virus.

Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine protects against virus variants

The Covid-19 vaccine from Pfizer Inc and BioNTech SE appears to protect against highly transmissible new variants of the coronavirus discovered in Britain and South Africa, a laboratory study suggests.

In blood samples from vaccine recipients, scientists found the vaccine appears effective against the so-called N501Y mutation...