Tinder, OKCupid, Hinge and other dating apps owned by Match Group are adding new features to users' profiles to encourage them to get a coronavirus vaccine. The Friday announcement is an effort to assist the White House in reaching its goal of getting 70 percent of US adults at least one vaccine jab by July 4. Those who say they have received a COVID-19 vaccination can add a badge to their profile that says'I'm Vaccinated' and will have access to premium content such as boost and super swipes. The apps are also adding filters so people can see who has been vaccinated as well as promotions and links to vaccine.gov to help individuals find vaccine locations. Tinder, OKCupid, Hinge and other dating apps owned by Match Group are adding new features to users' profiles to encourage them to get a coronavirus vaccine.

The UK's Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) advised the government to introduce mandatory hotel quarantine for travellers arriving into the UK two weeks ago, according to minutes from a meeting on 21 January that were leaked to the Times. On Thursday 21 January, SAGE reportedly warned that "reactive, geographically targeted" travel bans couldn't be relied on to prevent faster-spreading coronavirus variants, such as those identified in South Africa and Brazil, from reaching the UK, adding that: "no intervention, other than a complete, pre-emptive closure of borders, or the mandatory quarantine of all visitors upon arrival in designated facilities, irrespective of testing history, can get close to fully preventing the importation of new cases or new variants." A Downing Street spokesperson said SAGE did not directly advise UK prime minister Boris Johnson to close borders. Universities minister Michelle Donelan told Sky News that the government "always based our decisions on the best medical and scientific advice" and said "the SAGE advice actually said it would probably be ineffective, in fact, to close the borders, which was the same advice that we got at the time from the World Health Organization". Johnson announced geographically targeted hotel quarantine measures for travellers returning from 30 countries, including Brazil and South Africa, last week. UK health minister Matt Hancock urged people living in postcodes in England singled out for enhanced coronavirus testing for the so-called South Africa variant to stay at home unless "absolutely essential". Urgent door-to-door testing for the faster-spreading variant has been deployed after 11 cases with no link to foreign travel were identified in parts of England.

Never before has all of humanity focused so intently on the development of a medical remedy. Never before has so much money been invested in a serum in such a short amount of time. Never before have scientists, pharmaceutical companies and politicians been under such immense pressure to deliver. All that has led to an achievement that few thought possible: the development of a new vaccine within just one year instead of the eight to 10 years it normally takes. It is an unbelievable accomplishment, but it is also a hint as to what is now in store for us.

Biomedical research of vaccines against COVID-19 was already being tested in humans in March. Three months after the initial outbreak was identified in China, many of those owed their rapid start to the power of Artificial intelligence (AI). The feat is a promising and remarkable step in more than 200 years of immunization history. The experience may revolutionize the way vaccines are developed, potentially saving countless lives in future epidemics. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 34 vaccine candidates were being tested in humans as of early September.

In late February, a paper appeared in the journal Cell with encouraging news regarding one of the world's most persistent public health problems. Researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University had used artificial intelligence to identify a chemical compound with powerful antibiotic properties against some of the world's most drug-resistant strains of bacteria -- a welcome discovery in a world where 700,000 people die every year from drug-resistant infections. It was the first time an antibacterial compound had been identified this way. The researchers named it halicin, in honor of the computer HAL in the film 2001: Space Odyssey. While the global need for new antibiotics to treat drug-resistant infections is as pressing as it was at the start of the year, the world's attention has been diverted by the novel coronavirus pandemic, and the hunt for a vaccine that can halt Covid's spread.

Two startups harnessing AI to facilitate drug development -- insitro and Exscientia -- announced large funding raises this week, nabbing $143 million and $60 million, respectively. Here's a snapshot of how each startup is using AI to improve the drug discovery process: We expect pharma companies to increasingly eye tie ups with AI-focused startups as they race to develop treatments for the coronavirus -- but drug makers may not see a quick return on their investments. The coronavirus pandemic has sparked a great deal of activity among pharmaceutical companiesas they race to release a coronavirus vaccine. And we've already seen AI firms leverage their drug discovery platforms to uncover therapies to help accelerate treatment efforts. Although VCs' investments in nonessential tech services may drop off amid the pandemic-induced recession, we think that startups leveraging AI to rapidly analyze and sift through clinical data will continue to attract attention from investors -- especially since a coronavirus vaccine has yet to reach the public: AI platforms like the ones used by insitro and Exscientia could help pharma companies speed up the drug development process by better determining and analyzing patterns in clinical data.

If not the most deadly, the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) is one of the most contagious diseases to have hit our green planet in the past decades. In little over three months since the virus was first spotted in mainland China, it has spread to more than 90 countries, infected more than 185,000 people, and taken more than 3,500 lives. As governments and health organizations scramble to contain the spread of coronavirus, they need all the help they can get, including from artificial intelligence. Though current AI technologies are far from replicating human intelligence, they are proving to be very helpful in tracking the outbreak, diagnosing patients, disinfecting areas, and speeding up the process of finding a cure for COVID-19. Data science and machine learning might be two of the most effective weapons we have in the fight against the coronavirus outbreak.

If not the most deadly, the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) is one of the most contagious diseases to have hit our green planet in the past decades. In little over three months since the virus was first spotted in mainland China, it has spread to more than 90 countries, infected more than 185,000 people, and taken more than 3,500 lives. As governments and health organizations scramble to contain the spread of coronavirus, they need all the help they can get, including from artificial intelligence. Though current AI technologies are far from replicating human intelligence, they are proving to be very helpful in tracking the outbreak, diagnosing patients, disinfecting areas, and speeding up the process of finding a cure for COVID-19. Data science and machine learning might be two of the most effective weapons we have in the fight against the coronavirus outbreak.

If not the most deadly, the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) is one of the most contagious diseases to have hit our green planet in the past decades. In little over three months since the virus was first spotted in mainland China, it has spread to more than 90 countries, infected more than 185,000 people, and taken more than 3,500 lives. As governments and health organizations scramble to contain the spread of coronavirus, they need all the help they can get, including from artificial intelligence. Though current AI technologies are far from replicating human intelligence, they are proving to be very helpful in tracking the outbreak, diagnosing patients, disinfecting areas, and speeding up the process of finding a cure for COVID-19. Data science and machine learning might be two of the most effective weapons we have in the fight against the coronavirus outbreak. Just before the turn of the year, BlueDot, an artificial intelligence platform that tracks infectious diseases around the world, flagged a cluster of "unusual pneumonia" cases happening around a market in Wuhan, China.