Pfizer says tests show its COVID-19 vaccine is effective against new, more contagious variant

A new, more transmissible variant of the covornavirus, first discovered in England, is spreading around the U.S. -- Texas' first confirmed case was reported in Harris County on Thursday. But new research from Pfizer and the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston suggests the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine can protect against the new B117 strain. The researchers reported Thursday night that lab tests on blood samples from 20 vaccinated people showed their antibodies successfully fended...