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The US plans to send roughly 4 million doses of AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine that it is not using to Mexico and Canada in loan deals with the two countries, Reuters reports.
Mexico will receive 2.5 million doses of the vaccine and Canada is to receive 1.5 million doses, White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said.
“It is not fully finalized yet but it is our aim,” Psaki told a daily briefing.
“Ensuring our neighbors can contain the virus is ... mission critical to ending the pandemic.”
Vaccination alone is unlikely to contain coronavirus infections in the UK, but gradual reopening and high vaccine uptake could minimise future waves, new research suggests.
PA reports:
Vaccinating all adults in the UK is unlikely to achieve herd immunity and fully contain the virus, according to a new study.
Therefore, the gradual release of restrictions, high vaccine uptake, and a vaccine with high protection against infection is necessary to reduce the risk of future outbreaks, researchers say.
In England the road map out of lockdown, involves the slow and gradual relaxation of measures, with the majority of restrictions being eased after the most vulnerable have been vaccinated.
The modelling study was done before early real-world data from vaccination rollout studies.
Because preliminary findings suggest the vaccine offers some protection against infection, but the exact level is unknown, researchers analysed a range of levels of protection against infection.
Professor Matt Keeling, from the University of Warwick, said: “Our modelling suggests that vaccination rollout in adults alone is unlikely to completely stop Covid-19 cases spreading in the UK.
California governor Gavin Newsom has acknowledged mistakes in communicating with the public last year before the first loosening of coronavirus restrictions led to an early summer spike in cases.
The Democratic governor also said he expects to soon expand the list of people eligible for vaccinations and asserted he was right to call the organizers of a recall effort against him partisan extremists.
He told The Associated Press: We were communicating with counties and businesses and sectors and industries, not with the public, what that modification meant and what it didn’t mean.
“And in hindsight, clearly, we could have done a much better job by informing the public what those modifications meant.”
The front page of Friday’s Guardian in the UK.
THE GUARDIAN: PM backs jab as row grows over ‘boasts’ about rollout #TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/4AQJdFGdRt
— Neil Henderson (@hendopolis) March 18, 2021
Brazil’s president Jair Bolsonaro said his new health minister, Marcelo Queiroga, will take effect on Friday with publication in the official gazette, Reuters reports.
Bolsonaro, who is under pressure from a worsening Covid-19 pandemic, defended his opposition to lockdowns on a social media webcast and said he was not “obsessed” with being president or running for re-election next year.
Updated
Brazil suffers second highest daily toll during pandemic
Brazil has registered 86,982 new coronavirus cases and 2,724 deaths, the second highest daily toll, according to the health ministry.
Infections have surpassed 11.7 million and deaths have gone past 287,000 in total.
#COVID19 vaccines are part of the solution, but alone they won’t end the pandemic. Please keep:
— World Health Organization (WHO) (@WHO) March 18, 2021
↔️ physical distancing
😷 masking
🤲 cleaning your hands
🪟 opening windows
✖️ avoiding crowds
Do it all to lower your risk! pic.twitter.com/eDXQ3DZj9T
Mexico’s government said it would restrict movement on its southern border with Guatemala to help contain the spread of Covid-19 as the Biden administration set out plans to loan Mexico vaccines to fight the pandemic.
Reuters reports:
Mexico’s announcement that it would curb travel on the Guatemala frontier dovetails with its preparations to step up enforcement efforts in the area against surging illegal immigration, according to a Reuters report.
The mutually beneficial steps follow weeks of diplomacy to address concerns over rising apprehensions of migrants trying to enter the United States, many of them unaccompanied minors, as well as setbacks to Mexico’s initial vaccine rollout.
President Joe Biden, a Democrat, has drawn heavy fire from Republican opponents over the mounting challenge posed by the border.
Meanwhile, his Mexican counterpart has pressed him for vaccines to offset shortages as midterm elections approach.
Andres Rozental, a former Mexican deputy foreign minister for North America, said it looked as though a quid pro quo was occurring, even if it was unlikely that any senior figures in either administration would say so publicly.
“It’s a give and take, a win-win for both,” he said.
Slovenia will restart using the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine from Friday, health minister Janez Poklukar said, Reuters reports.
Slovenia temporarily halted AstraZeneca jabs on Monday.
Norway said it would wait before resuming use of AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine even though it has been declared safe by Europe’s medical regulator, AFP reports.
The European Medicines Agency’s (EMA) said that after an investigation the AstraZeneca vaccine was “safe and effective” and not linked to an increased risk of blood clots.
The Norwegian Institute of Public Health said it “took note” of the EMA’s finding, but deemed it “premature” at this point to come to a final conclusion.
The NIPH said it would issue its own guidance at the end of next week.
“Vaccinations with AstraZeneca will remain suspended until we have a full view of the situation,” institute director Camilla Stoltenberg said.
A summary of today's developments
- The AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine is “safe and effective” and its benefits outweigh the risks, Europe’s medicines regulator announced, but it will continue to study possible links between the shot and a very rare blood clotting disorder.
- Following the review, Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands, Germany, Italy, France, Latvia, Lithuania and Cyprus are to resume the use of the vaccine. Ireland said they would make their decision tomorrow, while Sweden said it would report back publicly next week after “analysing the situation”.
- Meanwhile, the EU is to send a formal letter to AstraZeneca in an attempt to resolve its dispute over vaccine supplies as it emerged that capitals including Paris, Berlin and Rome backed the bloc’s threat to halt vaccine exports to countries that were not reciprocating, including Britain, amid further delays over jab deliveries.
- Several French regions, including the Ile-de-France region around Paris, are to be subject to a new four-week lockdown from tomorrow, but schools will remain open and confinement will be less strict than in previous nationwide lockdowns, prime minister Jean Castex has said.
- The Ukrainian capital Kyiv will go into a strict lockdown for three weeks from 20 March to contain the spread of coronavirus, elsewhere Bulgaria will close schools, restaurants and shopping malls for 10 days from 22 March in a bid to stem rising Covid-19 infections that are putting pressure on its hospitals.
- The head of a World Health Organization team working with Chinese colleagues to finish a long-awaited report into Covid’s origins has acknowledged its authors could face “pressures”. But he insisted the final product would require unanimous approval from all of the team’s science experts.
- German regional leaders have urged the EU to speed up its review of Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine and ensure that it could be rolled out efficiently across the bloc once approved.
- The World Dental Federation warned that dentists around the globe are witnessing the collateral damage of the pandemic on oral health and that there is a higher incidence of tooth decay and more advanced gum disease.
Mexico has registered 6,726 new cases of coronavirus and 698 deaths, Reuters reports.
It brings the total in the country to 2,182,188 cases and 196,606 deaths, health ministry data showed on Thursday.
Denmark’s government has agreed with its Parliament to raise the limit on public gatherings to 10 persons, Reuters reports.
More schools and upper secondary institutions will be allowed to resume from March 22, the prime minister’s office said.
Ann Taylor, AstraZeneca’s chief medical officer, has welcomed the announcements by the MHRA and EMA that the benefits outweigh any possible risks.
She said: “Vaccine safety is paramount and we welcome the regulators’ decisions which affirm the overwhelming benefit of our vaccine in stopping the pandemic.“
“We trust that, after the regulators’ careful decisions, vaccinations can once again resume across Europe.”
AstraZeneca said it will “continue to work closely with health authorities to ensure the appropriate use of Covid-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca”.
US president Joe Biden said 65% of Americans who are 65 years and older have received at least one shot of a Covid-19 vaccine.
Biden also said his administration will meet its goal of giving out 100 million vaccine shots on Friday.
Germany will resume vaccinations with AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 jabs from Friday.
Reuters reports:
Health minister Jens Spahn said: “The common aim of the federal government and all 16 states is for vaccinations with AstraZeneca to start again already tomorrow,” said Spahn.
The health minister took pains to justify the decision to suspend use of the vaccine on Monday for the EMA to examine a handful of cases of cerebral vein thrombosis that emerged.
“The course of events this week shows that citizens can trust that they will be informed transparently and they can trust that careful checks will be carried out,” added Spahn.
Doctors would have to inform patients about the possible blood clotting risk before giving them the jabs, he said.
Spain has confirmed it will resume administering AstraZeneca’s coronavirus vaccine from next Wednesday, Reuters reports.
Health m inister Carolina Darias said: “The decision was taken unanimously as the benefits outweighed the risks, in line with the findings from the European Medicines Agency.”
Darias told a news briefing after a meeting with regional health chiefs on the subject.
Spain, which aims to vaccinate 70% of its 47 million population by the end of the summer, has already given the first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine to almost one million people out of a total of 7.68 million vaccines administered in Spain.
Netherlands to resume using AstraZeneca vaccine next week
The Dutch health minister, Hugo de Jonge, said the Netherlands would resume using the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine next week now that the European Medicines Agency (EMA) said the shot is still safe after a review, Reuters reports.
De Jonge said that the Netherlands would resume vaccinations at “full steam” next week.
The Czech government has agreed to extend restrictions on movement among districts beyond March 21 until further notice, health minister Jan Blatny said, Reuters reports.
The restrictions, introduced at the beginning of March on top of the closure of schools, shops and most services and compulsory wearing of FFP2 masks, ban people from moving beyond district boundaries except for work commute and other serious reasons.
Portugal lifts suspension of AstraZeneca jab
Portugal will lift a temporary suspension on the use of AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine on Monday.
It follows a statement by the EU’s drug watchdog that the benefits outweighed its risks.
Reuters reports:
The southern European nation was one of several countries that suspended the use of the vaccine earlier this week after reports of blood disorders among those who had taken the vaccine.
Portugal, which hopes to vaccinate 70% of its 10 million population by the end of summer, has already given the first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine to 173,000 people, including Prime Minister Antonio Costa.
Summary
- The AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine is “safe and effective” and its benefits outweigh the risks, Europe’s medicines regulator announced, but it will continue to study possible links between the shot and a very rare blood clotting disorder.
- Following the review, Italy (see 18.18pm), France, Latvia, Lithuania, Cyprus, and, according to reports, Spain (see 6.34pm) are to resume the use of the vaccine. Ireland said they would make their decision tomorrow, while Sweden said it would report back publicly next week after “analysing the situation”.
- Meanwhile, the EU is to send a formal letter to AstraZeneca in an attempt to resolve its dispute over vaccine supplies as it emerged that capitals including Paris, Berlin and Rome backed the bloc’s threat to halt vaccine exports to countries that were not reciprocating, including Britain, amid further delays over jab deliveries.
- Several French regions, including the Ile-de-France region around Paris, are to be subject to a new four-week lockdown from tomorrow, but schools will remain open and confinement will be less strict than in previous nationwide lockdowns, prime minister Jean Castex has said (see 6.31pm).
- The Ukrainian capital Kyiv will go into a strict lockdown for three weeks from 20 March to contain the spread of coronavirus (see 10.05am), elsewhere Bulgaria will close schools, restaurants and shopping malls for 10 days from 22 March in a bid to stem rising Covid-19 infections that are putting pressure on its hospitals (see 8.37am).
-
The head of a World Health Organization team working with Chinese colleagues to finish a long-awaited report into Covid’s origins has acknowledged its authors could face “pressures”. But he insisted the final product would require unanimous approval from all of the team’s science experts (see 1.10pm).
- German regional leaders have urged the EU to speed up its review of Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine and ensure that it could be rolled out efficiently across the bloc once approved (see 5.06pm).
-
The World Dental Federation warned that dentists around the globe are witnessing the collateral damage of the pandemic on oral health and that there is a higher incidence of tooth decay and more advanced gum disease (see 12.12pm).
Turkey has recorded 20,049 new coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours, the highest daily level this year, health ministry data shows, after an easing of nationwide restrictions at the start of the month.
Turkey has logged a total of 2,950,603 Covid-19 cases since the beginning of the pandemic, the data showed, while 81 people died due to Covid in the last 24 hours, raising the cumulative death toll to 29,777, Reuters reports.
The Swedish Medical Products Agency has reported that a previously healthy woman has died in Sweden about a week after being vaccinated with the AstraZeneca vaccine.
“This is a case of blood clots in the arteries and veins and major bleeding, ie the unusual disorder that is the focus of the EMA investigation,” Veronica Arthurson, head of drug safety at the Swedish Medical Products Agency said.
Reuters reports that Sweden earlier (see 6.05pm) said it would extend its pause of the AstraZeneca vaccine until next week and “analyse the situation” after the EU’s drug watchdog said it is still convinced the benefits of AstraZeneca’s jab outweigh the risks following an investigation into reports of blood clots that prompted more than a dozen nations to suspend its use.
Spain is to also resume the use of AstraZeneca’s coronavirus vaccine, as of next week, El Pais newspaper reports, citing sources attending a government meeting with regional chiefs on the subject. The health ministry declined to comment.
Strict new measures in some French regions, PM announces
Several French regions, including the Ile-de-France region around Paris, would be subject to a new four-week lockdown from tomorrow, but schools will remain open and confinement will be less strict than in previous nationwide lockdowns, prime minister Jean Castex has said.
France will also resume vaccinating people with the AstraZeneca jab, he announced, adding he will receive the vaccine tomorrow afternoon and stressing the importance of all over-65’s getting the jab, with 5.7 million having received a first dose so far.
“The AstraZeneca [jab] is effective, as underlined by the European regulator. It only has relatively rare side effects ... it has a positive risk/reward ratio,” Castex said.
He also announced the nationwide curfew would be moved back by an hour to start at 7pm local. Castex said essential goods shops, including bookstores, will remain open and outdoor activities will be allowed in a 10km radius, but inter-regional travel will not be allowed.
He said the progression of the Covid-19 epidemic in France was clearly accelerating. “More and more this is looking like a third wave,” he said.
Castex announced the new measures in 16 regions across France, with the prohibition of outdoor activities outside a 10km radius from people’s homes’, and interregional travel also banned.
The measures would last for four weeks. The measures could be extended elsewhere if necessary. Earlier (see 12pm) we reported France was set to announce new coronavirus restrictions, including a potential lockdown in the Paris region and in the north of the country, as the number of Covid patients in intensive care units rises.
Updated
Ireland expects to announce tomorrow its decision on whether to resume the roll-out of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine, deputy chief medical officer Ronan Glynn said.
Ireland temporarily suspended the AstraZeneca vaccine on Sunday “out of an abundance of caution” after reports of blood clotting.
Italy to resume using AstraZeneca vaccine from Friday after it is declared 'safe and effective'
Italy is the latest country to announce it is resuming administering AstraZeneca/Oxford coronavirus vaccines from tomorrow after the EU’s drugs regulator declared them safe, prime minister Mario Draghi said.
AFP reports:
Italy suspended the use of the jab on Monday, one of a number of European countries taking precautionary action following concerns it was linked to blood clots.
“The administration of the AstraZeneca vaccine will resume tomorrow. The government’s priority remains to carry out as many vaccinations as possible in the shortest possible time,” Draghi said in a statement.
Italy’s health regulator AIFA will first have to lift the ban but the health ministry said it expects AstraZeneca jabs to again be in use from 3:00pm local time.
A target to triple vaccinations to 500,000 per day by mid-April and to fully vaccinate 80 per cent of the population by mid-September has been set by the government. Sources told AFP this week that the suspension of the AstraZeneca jabs meant around 200,000 fewer vaccinations this week.
An EMG institute survey for the Adnkronos news agency published yesterday asked respondents if the affair over the jabs and blood clots had damaged their confidence in vaccines, to which 49% answered yes and 49% said no.
Updated
Elsewhere, Sweden needs “a few days” to decide whether to restart paused vaccinations with AstraZeneca’s Covid vaccine. “The public health agency needs a few days to analyse the situation and how the AstraZeneca vaccine can be used in Sweden,” director general of the agency Johan Carlson said. “Next week we will say the position we are taking on the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine.”
Updated
Cyprus is to also resume vaccinations with the AstraZeneca vaccine from tomorrow, after the European Medicines Authority ruled it was safe and effective, the island’s health ministry said.
Authorities had suspended administering the jab on 15 March pending a review of the vaccine’s safety by the European drugs regulator.
Updated
Latvia and Lithuania are to restart administering vaccinations using AstraZeneca shots tomorrow, both countries’ health ministers said, after the EU’s drug watchdog said it remained convinced the benefits of the jab outweigh the risks.
And here’s Prof Andrew Pollard, chief investigator on the Oxford vaccine trial.
I welcome the news that both the MHRA and EMA have reiterated that the vaccine*s benefits continue to outweigh any potential risks, and the vaccine should continue to be administered. Thousands of cases of Covid-19 are occurring across Europe every day, the rate of covid is rising in many countries on the continent and vaccination remains a central component of our fight against the pandemic virus.
It is important that public health bodies monitor the roll out of the vaccine, and safety has to be paramount with any new medicine. Importantly, real-world data shows the clear impact of the vaccine on public health - with far fewer cases and hospitalisations from coronavirus in those who have been vaccinated.”
Meanwhile, Dr Doug Brown, chief executive of the British Society for Immunology, said:
Over the last few days, a number of countries decided to pause the rollout of the AstraZeneca-Oxford Covid-19 vaccine to double check that having the vaccine is not linked to any cases of blood clots. These reports can sound worrying but we need to put the risk into perspective. As we all know, people fall ill for a multitude of reasons.
As has happened in this case, it is right the medicines regulators review the evidence to work out what the cause is behind the rare reports of blood clots and whether it is linked to having been given the vaccine or not. We must remember that Covid-19 is a disease that can have serious consequences in its own right, including the development of coagulation problems.
Stephen Lewandowsky, an expert in cognitive psychology at the University of Bristol, said:
[Risk management is] a very difficult issue, and different member states and countries may well come to different decisions on it”. Exercising precaution is one possible way in which policy makers manage risk, and it is more prevalent in European countries than the US or UK, where the emphasis is more on weighing of risks and benefits.
Given that the European public is generally risk averse, the suspension and careful examination of the cases by the EMA may therefore help maintain public trust in the vaccination process, even though it may also mean that more people will get sick from Covid-19 than if the vaccinations had continued.
Here’s reaction to earlier’s press conference.
Antonella Viola, professor of immunology at the University of Padu, said:
EMA reiterates that the benefits outweigh the risks ... very few cases of thrombosis and in line with what would be expected anyway from the non-vaccinated population. However, they do not exclude the possibility of a link between the vaccine and these rare episodes ... and therefore pharmacovigilance will continue. So what we have to do is this: we must reassure everyone, these events are extremely rare and the vaccine continues to show a very high level of safety.”
Prof Gino Martini, chief scientist at the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, said:
I hope that any concerns about potential links between the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine can now be discarded given the positive verdicts delivered by the EMA, the WHO and the MHRA (UK’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency), who have all now said it is safe, effective and can continue to be used. The vaccine is playing a crucial role in protecting vulnerable groups from hospitalisation and death and helping to decrease infection rates across the UK.
Jacques Battistoni, head of French doctors’ union MG, said:
We are delighted with the EMA’s announcement which paves the way for a restart of vaccination with the AstraZeneca vaccine in France. General practitioners will be able to do so as soon as Friday if the French government authorises us to do so.
And here’s the full story:
German regional leaders have urged the EU to speed up its review of Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine and ensure that it could be rolled out efficiently across the bloc once approved.
AFP reports:
“It’s important to accelerate approval procedures, especially in the case of Sputnik,” said Bavarian premier Markus Soeder at a news conference after Germany’s 16 state leaders held talks with European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen.
He added that European studies of the Russian vaccine had so far shown that it was “highly safe” and “in some cases better than vaccines which have already been approved ... We need to approve it quickly and efficiently, not get bogged down in the classic, bureaucratic details.”
Soeder claimed that approval was now “only a matter of time”, and that it was more important that the EU struck deals to secure production and supply. “Europe needs to negotiate quickly and not wait until the approval is there. This is an urgent appeal not to miss another chance,” he said.
Berlin mayor Michael Mueller also noted that “we need every vaccine we can get”. The European Medicines Agency (EMA) launched a rolling review of Sputnik V earlier this month, though several EU countries have already begun distributing it.
Moving to other news, the number of people in intensive care units with Covid in French hospitals has risen by 27 to 4,246, a new 2021 high, the health ministry reports.
The ministry also reported that the number of people who died in hospitals from the disease has increased by 273 over the past 24 hours.
Updated
Cooke says it’s important that EU state national authorities have “the right scientific basis to make their decisions” and that their actions are also informed by local events and environments. She is not drawn to criticise any member state, after a reporter cites possible unease felt by those who have already been vaccinated with the Oxford jab after countries halted their rollouts.
And the press conference concludes.
Updated
Here’s the full story with the latest information from the presser thus far.
Cooke says the EMA is seeking to raise awareness among people who have been vaccinated and are being vaccinated, “about things they should look out for, just in case they have any problem.” She says, “if it was me, I’d be vaccinated tomorrow, but I would want to know that if anything happened to me after, what to do about it, and that’s what we’re saying today.”
The incidence of the reported blood clots and thromboembolic events are not higher than the existing rate, the officials reiterate, again.
Updated
The EMA has stopped short of ruling out a causative link between the jab and the reported blood clots, the journalist asking the question reiterates, and Strauss says the change to the leaflet is sufficient action ahead of further studies. Head of data analytics Dr Peter Arlett sketches out the nature of the future research.
Taking questions now, Cooke says that she believes member states were waiting for the outcome of the review – when asked whether the precautionary approach taken was correct, or risked more lives than continuing the inoculation campaigns. No follow ups on the questions are being taken.
A warning will be added to the patient leaflet for the jab, with a description of these cases, she adds. “This information should be provided to healthcare professionals and the public ... [Along with] the signs and symptoms of concern so timely action can be taken to mitigate these risks.”
Updated
Dr Sabine Strauss, chair of the EMA vaccine safety committee, reiterates Cooke’s sentiment over the benefits of the jab and that it has found “no evidence of a quality or a batch issue”. She says individual cases from across Europe of thromboembolic events were investigated that that there is no higher overall risk of such things happening after being vaccinated. In fact, she says it likely reduces the likelihood of these events.
However, “in a few cases, tiny clots developed in multiple blood vessels in the first 7-14 days after vaccination ... Also in a few cases we saw clots developing in blood vessels, draining blood from the brain ... These conditions are linked to low levels of blood platelet. At the moment, the evidence we have is at the moment not sufficient to conclude with certainty whether these adverse events are indeed caused by the vaccine or not.” She adds further studies are to be commissioned, and stresses these events are extremely rare among some 20 million vaccinated people.
She notes that over 2,500 people died related to Covid in one day last week alone, and therefore the review was made EMA’s highest priority. She said European experts were mobilised for the review, and that member states have further information to inform their policies – after a number of countries paused their campaigns with the jabs.
Cooke says the EMA is looking to do observational studies to investigate further. And she calls for people who incur any side effects to report it. But she reiterates the EMA’s position that “this vaccine is a safe and effective option to protect citizens against Covid-19” and that the AstraZeneca jab demonstrated at least a 60% efficacy in preventing coronavirus disease.
However, Cooke says that based on available evidence, “we still cannot rule out definitely a link between these [blood clot] cases and the vaccine”.
AstraZeneca vaccine is 'safe and effective' and benefits outweigh any risks, says EMA
EMA chief Emer Cooke says the committee has ruled “this is a safe and effective vaccine” and the benefits outweigh any possible risks.
The jab is not associated with an increase in the overall risk of thromboembolic events or blood clots, she adds.
Updated
And here comes Europe’s medicine regulator press conference, which we primed earlier (see 3.01pm), and which will reveal the outcome of its review of the safety of AstraZeneca’s vaccine.
Updated
The US plans to send about 4 million doses of AstraZeneca’s Covid vaccine that it is not using to Mexico and Canada in loan deals with the two countries, according to an administration official quoted by Reuters.
The news agency reports:
Mexico will receive 2.5 million does of the vaccine and Canada will receive 1.5 million doses, the official said. “This virus has no borders,” the official told Reuters on condition of anonymity. “We only put the virus behind us if we’re helping our global partners.”
The Biden administration has come under pressure from allies worldwide to share vaccine, particularly from AstraZeneca, which is authorised for use in other countries but not yet in the United States.
AstraZeneca has millions of doses made in a US facility, and has said that it would have 30 million shots ready at the beginning of April.
The deal to share the vaccine, which is still being finalised, does not affect president Joe Biden’s plans to have vaccine available for all adults in the United States by the end of May, the official said. The deal is likely to be announced publicly in the coming days, and would see Mexico and Canada will pay the US back with doses in return later this year.
China has reported six new mainland Covid-19 cases on 17 March, up from four cases a day earlier, the country’s national health authority has said.
The National Health Commission said in a statement that all of the new cases were imported infections originating from overseas, Reuters reports. The number of new asymptomatic cases, which China does not classify as confirmed cases, fell to six from 15 a day earlier.
The total cumulative number of confirmed Covid-19 cases in mainland China now stands at 90,066, while the death toll remained unchanged at 4,636.
The UN has said that vaccinating some of the world’s most vulnerable refugees could drag on beyond 2022 due to the slow roll-out of Covid-19 jabs in host countries.
AFP reports:
UNHCR, the United Nations Refugee Agency, said many urban refugees were driven into a downward spiral of poverty last year by the pandemic. Meanwhile the capacity for dealing with Covid-19 among refugees in rural areas was very limited.
The UNHCR is seeking $455 million to tackle the additional problems posed in protecting refugees from the effects of the pandemic. “Now the struggle is for vaccines,” Sajjad Malik, UNHCR’s resilience and solutions director, told reporters. “2021 is the beginning but it may very much go into 2022 and beyond because the vaccine is trickling down very slowly into these countries.”
There are around 80 million forcibly displaced people worldwide, according to UNHCR’s latest statistics. These include 45.7 million internally displaced people, 26.3 million refugees and 4.2 million asylum seekers.
Despite early fears that refugee camps would prove ideal breeding grounds for the virus, the situation for refugees tends to mirror that of their host communities, Malik said.
Moving away from the presser just for now, the office of Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro has said his US counterpart Joe Biden wrote to him last month outlining opportunities to work together on the pandemic and the environment.
Reuters reports:
In the 26 February letter, which was confirmed by a US official, Biden said his government is willing to work closely with Brazil on a new chapter in bilateral relations, adding that there were no limits on what the nations could achieve together, according to the Brazilian president’s office.
It did not immediately respond to a request for comment about why it waited three weeks to release the letter, which came a day after Bolsonaro’s nemesis, progressive ex-president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, used a high-profile CNN interview to call for Biden to help in securing vaccines to end Brazil’s raging coronavirus outbreak.
Last week, Brazil’s supreme court annulled Lula’s graft convictions, upending the 2022 presidential election and teeing up a likely showdown between Lula and Bolsonaro.
Bolsonaro has been dismissive of coronavirus and vaccines but faces growing pressure with numbers of infections and deaths reaching record highs in Brazil. But Lula’s focus on measures to end the pandemic and support Brazil’s ravaged economy in a speech last week drew a swift response from Bolsonaro – he and his aides made a rare appearance wearing masks at an official event in Brasília.
Updated
The European Medicines Agency press conference has been delayed by about an hour and is now expected to begin at around 4pm GMT.
My colleague Jon Henley reports that Europe’s medicines regulator is under mounting pressure to clear up safety concerns over the Oxford/AstraZeneca Covid vaccine as experts warned that arguably political decisions to pause it in many countries risked seriously delaying the continent’s already sluggish vaccination drive.
This afternoonit will announce the findings of its investigation into cases of bleeding, blood clots and low platelet counts in more than 30 of the vaccine’s recipients that have led many European countries to suspend it.
The agency’s head, Emer Cooke, on Tuesday reiterated it was convinced the benefits of the AstraZeneca vaccine outweighed the risks and had seen no indication the shot had caused the unusual blood events. Nonetheless, she said, the events were “a serious concern” needing “serious and detailed scientific evaluation”.
It all comes as the EU is to send a formal letter to AstraZeneca in an attempt to resolve its dispute over vaccine supplies, a spokesperson has said, as it emerged that capitals including Paris, Berlin and Rome backed the bloc’s threat to halt vaccine exports to countries that were not reciprocating, including Britain.
The Anglo-Swedish company has said it will not be able to meet its contractual commitment of 300m doses for the EU in the first half of the year but instead will be able to supply only 100m due to production problems and export restrictions.
Updated
Around one in five people aged 16 to 54 are likely to have had at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccine, according to NHS England figures.
PA reports:
An estimated 21.8% of people in this age group had received their first jab by March 14.
The estimates show only small variation between regions, ranging from 18.7% in London to 23.8% in north-west England.
Reuters reports that the American pharmaceutical copy Johnson & Johnson is developing several next generation coronavirus vaccines against new variants of the virus.
In February, the company won the US emergency use authorisation of a vaccine requiring only one dose. It is currently developing a second-generation vaccine with the aim of targeting the variants first discovered in South Africa.
Alex Gorsky, the chief executive officer, said:
We could be in a situation where you could either need a booster to maintain the durability of protection against the virus or you might need to have a next derivative of the current vaccine to address these variants as they develop.
Updated
Public Health England said there had been a slight rise of coronavirus cases among children and teenagers in England.
PA reports:
For 10 to 19-year-olds, the rate stood at 78.1 cases per 100,000 in the seven days to March 14, up week-on-week from 57.3.
Among five to nine year-olds it rose from 31.6 to 38.6, while for children aged four and under it rose from 32.0 to 33.9.
All other age groups showed a week-on-week drop in rates.
Adults aged 30 to 39 had the highest rate: 82.7, down from 91.2.
Updated
Five cases of rare blood clot among AstraZeneca vaccine recipients in the UK
Reuters reports that the UK’s medicine regulator (MHRA) has said that there have been five cases of a rare type of blood clot in the cerebral brain among AstraZeneca vaccine recipients.
However, they added that the benefits of the coronavirus vaccine far outweighs the risks, and that evidence does not suggest that the AstraZeneca vaccine causes blood clots. They added the cases of the rare and specific type of blood clot is currently being investigated.
So far, 11 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine have been administered in the UK.
The MHRA said:
The available evidence does not suggest that blood clots in veins are caused by Covid-19 vaccine AstraZeneca.
A further, detailed review into five UK reports of a very rare and specific type of blood clot in the cerebral veins occurring together with lowered platelets is ongoing.
Updated
Reuters reports that a batch of fake doses of the Russian Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine have been discovered and seized by authorities in Mexico.
In a statement, the Russian Direct Investment Fund, responsible for exports of the vaccine, said:
Earlier today Mexican authorities seized a batch of vaccines designed and packaged as Sputnik V.
Analysis of the photographs of the seized batch, including the design of containers and labels, suggests that it is a fake substance which has nothing to do with the original vaccine.
Good afternoon, Tobi Thomas here. I’m taking over the blog while my colleague Mattha Busby has a break.
If you would like to get in touch, my twitter is @tobithomas_ and my email is tobi.thomas@theguardian.com
EU threat of tougher vaccine export controls backed by Germany, France and Italy
The European commission’s threat to block exports of Covid vaccines to countries with higher vaccination rates, including Britain, has won backing from Germany, France and Italy, EU officials and diplomats have said.
Reuters reports:
The head of the European commission, Ursula von der Leyen, threatened on Wednesday to ban exports of vaccines to safeguard scarce doses for its own citizens facing a third wave of the pandemic.
At a meeting of EU diplomats that took place shortly after von der Leyen’s warning, Germany, Italy, France and Denmark supported the commission’s stance on a tougher application of export controls, three diplomats and officials who attended the meeting or were briefed about it, said.
The Netherlands, Belgium and Ireland were more cautious, two of the officials said, adding a discussion on the matter will be held at a summit of EU leaders next week. “It’s all stemming from a growing frustration with AstraZeneca and being under increased pressure to do something about it. We don’t have enough vaccines, we export like crazy without getting anything,” said one of the diplomats who participated in the discussions.
A first shipment to Australia of AstraZeneca vaccines was blocked earlier in March by Italy, in agreement with the EU commission. All other requests have so far been approved for a total of over 40m shots exported to dozens of countries since 30 January.
Updated
WHO report on Covid origins to be published next week
The head of a World Health Organization team working with Chinese colleagues to finish a long-awaited report into Covid’s origins has acknowledged its authors could face “pressures”. But he insisted the final product would require unanimous approval from all of the team’s science experts.
AP reports:
Peter Ben Embarek, an expert on food safety and diseases that jump from animals to humans, said in interviews that the team hopes the report – some 280 pages and complete with graphs, dates and annexes – would be ready for release next week.
Ben Embarek, who led a 10-person international team of experts that visited China in January and February, acknowledged that political pressures have loomed large over the virus pandemic. “We are in the world that we live in,” he said. “It’s possible that there will be pressures from right to left ... What we can guarantee is that everyone will be on board” and “unanimous” in their backing of the report once that the text is completed, Ben Embarek said.
The “fine-tuning of the text” has centred on scientific issues, while some Chinese-English translation issues were “taking a lot of time,” he said. The team did not find cases of Covid-19 before December 8, 2019, he said. “We don’t know yet the origins of the pandemic,” he added. It took many months for the UN team to arrange a visit to China with Chinese authorities.
China’s Global Times newspaper yesterday published an interview with Liang Wannian, the head of the Chinese side of the team, who pointed to political pressures that amounted to “huge disrespect to the work of our scientists.”
Liang was quoted as saying some politicians and international media had “insisted on politicising the scientific issue of tracing the source of Covid-19, regardless of scientific facts, for their own personal gain, arbitrarily misinterpreting the scientific findings and reports of our joint team.”
The World Dental Federation has warned that dentists around the globe are witnessing the collateral damage of the pandemic, and the regulations designed to counter it, on oral health – reporting a higher incidence of tooth decay and more advanced gum disease.
It says changing routines, thanks to lockdowns and movement restrictions, have seen some people skipping twice-daily toothbrushing, snacking more often between meals at home, and not visiting the dentist until they are in extreme pain.
The World Health Organization reported that oral health services were among the most affected essential health services because of the pandemic, with 77% of countries reporting partial or complete disruption.
“Let’s call it for what it is — a dental disaster,” said Dr Gerhard Konrad Seeberger, president of the World Dental Federation (FDI). “Restrictions have certainly played a part in oral health hesitancy, but they don’t tell the whole story.”
During the first wave of the Covid-19 outbreak, dental practices around the world were forced to close. For two to three months, all dental appointments had to be postponed or cancelled, except for urgent emergency treatments, the FDI said.
Dr Maria Fernanda Atuesta Mondragon, president of the Colombian Dental Federation and an FDI councillor, said:
One of the dramatic consequences of the pandemic is that oral health issues that were not considered urgent during the outbreak of the pandemic did in fact became urgent after having to wait two months to seek treatment. We’ve seen some patients undergoing orthodontic treatment who have lost the gaps that were created for their teeth to align, while others have developed significant periodontal issues.
Updated
France is set to announce new coronavirus restrictions, including a potential lockdown in the Paris region and in the north of the country, as the number of Covid patients in intensive care units rises.
AP reports:
Prime minister Jean Castex is scheduled to detail the restrictions this evening. “We will make the decisions we need to make,” president Emmanuel Macron said on Wednesday while visiting the hospital of Poissy and Saint-Germain-en-Laye, west of Paris. He added the new measures will be “pragmatic, proportionated and targeted”.
The virus is rapidly spreading in the Paris region, where the rate of infection has reached over 420 per 100,000 inhabitants and ICUs are close to saturation. France’s nationwide infection rate is about 250 per 100,000.
As during previous infection peaks, health authorities have organised transfers of critically ill patients to less-affected regions to ease some of the pressure on hospitals in Paris and in northern and southern France. People in France have been under a 6pm to 6am nationwide curfew for two months.
Updated
Italy has inaugurated a living monument to those lost to the virus as it marked the anniversary of Bergamo’s death toll reaching such heights that an army convoy had to transport coffins out because its cemeteries and crematoriums were full.
AP reports:
Premier Mario Draghi visited the northern city on Thursday to commemorate a national day of mourning for Italy’s coronavirus victims. Flags flew at half-staff around the country and public authorities observed a minute of silence.
Draghi laid a wreath and inaugurated a forest named in honour of the more than 100,000 victims in Italy, the first country in the west to be hit by the outbreak. “This place is a symbol of the pain of an entire nation,” Draghi said at Bergamo’s cemetery.
The anniversary came as much of Italy including Bergamo is under a new lockdown, with schools and restaurants shuttered, amid a new surge of infections. And it comes as Italy’s halting vaccination campaign has slowed down further because of the suspension of AstraZeneca shots pending review.
At least 670 people died in Bergamo city alone, and more than 6,000 in the surrounding Bergamo province, the mayor, Giorgio Gori, said. But he noted that only half of them are included in Italy’s official toll since they were never tested for the virus because of laboratory limitations, and died at home or in nursing homes.
Prosecutors in Bergamo are investigating whether to lay any criminal blame for the toll, and whether a lack of pandemic preparedness had any role in it.
Updated
Oxford and Pfizer jabs may protect against Brazil variant
The vaccines from Oxford University/AstraZeneca and Pfizer/BioNTech may be more effective against the P1 Brazil variant of coronavirus than previously thought, a new Oxford University study suggests.
PA reports:
Research from Oxford University, which has not yet been peer-reviewed, measured the level of antibodies that can neutralise - or stop infection from - variants that are circulating in South Africa, Brazil and elsewhere.
It found that vaccines do not work as well against the variants as against the original strain of coronavirus, but that the P1 Brazilian variant may be less resistant to vaccine-induced antibodies than first feared.
Prof Gavin Screaton, lead scientist on the study, said: “This study extends our understanding the role of changes in the spike protein in escape from the human immune response, measured as neutralising antibody levels. The results suggest that P1 might be less resistant to vaccine and convalescent immune responses than B1351 (South Africa), and similar to B117 (Kent).”
The study used blood samples from people who have natural antibodies generated from a Covid-19 infection and from those whose antibodies were induced by the Oxford or Pfizer vaccines.
It found a nearly threefold reduction in the level of virus neutralisation by the antibodies generated by the Oxford and Pfizer vaccines for the Kent and Brazil variants when compared to the original strain, and a ninefold and 7.6-fold reduction respectively against the South Africa variant.
Here’s a bit more on this from Reuters:
The variant first identified in South Africa triggered a much larger reduction in virus neutralisation, with a ninefold reduction in Oxford/AstraZeneca’s vaccine, and a 7.6-fold reduction for Pfizer/BioNTech.
Last month, South Africa put use of AstraZeneca’s shot on hold after data showed it gave minimal protection against mild-to-moderate infection caused by the country’s dominant variant.
The authors of the study said that developing vaccines against the South Africa variant, known as B.1.351, should be the “greatest priority for vaccine developers globally”.
Updated
An eruption of protests in Senegal has shone a spotlight on simmering frustrations over joblessness and a year of coronavirus restrictions.
AFP reports:
Usually seen as a haven of stability in volatile west Africa, Senegal was rocked by a week of clashes between opposition supporters and police in early March.
At least five people were killed in the unrest, sparked by the arrest of opposition leader Ousmane Sonko, a government critic popular with Senegalese youths. But many argue that anger also boiled over because of deepening poverty in the nation of 16 million people, especially among the young.
“Senegalese people are fed up because they’re hungry,” said Gorra Sarr, 42, who sells colourful handmade bags at a craft market in the capital Dakar. “It’s not easy, but we survive.”
Senegal’s economy was growing before the pandemic, with its GDP increasing 5.3% in 2019, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). However, despite the IMF forecasting a recovery this year after a slowdown in 2020, coronavirus restrictions have ravaged Senegal’s large informal sector, and growing numbers of people are struggling to make ends meet.
Demba Moussa Dembele, a Senegalese economist, told AFP that he estimated about 2 million people had fallen into poverty since the onset of the coronavirus crisis.
This is Mattha Busby here taking over from my colleague Rachel Hall. Hello to everyone reading around the world. Please do drop me a line on Twitter or via email (mattha.busby.freelance@guardian.co.uk) with any tips or thoughts.
Updated
Both the World Health Organization’s Europe director, Hans Kluge, and the African Union have said that the benefits of the Astrazeneca shot outweigh any risks in statements encouraging its continued use to save lives.
Their announcements come a day after the World Health Organization backed the vaccine and as more than a dozen European countries have suspended the use of it amid concerns over the risk of blood clots.
WHO Europe’s Kluge said public trust was crucial to any vaccination campaign, recommending that authorities show transparency, competence and empathy.
Reuters reports:
AstraZeneca said on Sunday a review of safety data of more than 17 million people vaccinated in the United Kingdom and European Union with its vaccine had shown no evidence of an increased risk of blood clots
Updated
Ukraine's capital to go into lockdown
The Ukrainian capital Kyiv will go into a strict lockdown for three weeks from 20 March to contain the spread of the coronavirus.
Reuters reports:
Theatres and shopping centres will be closed, spectators banned from sporting events, cafes and restaurants can only provide takeaway food, schools will introduce remote learning and all state employees will work from home.
The World Health Organization’s vaccine safety panel will issue its findings on the AstraZeneca Covid-19 shot on Friday, a WHO spokesman said.
Reuters reports:
The WHO’s global advisory committee on vaccine safety examined the data on Tuesday and reviewed reports of rare blood coagulation disorders in people who had received the shot, the agency has said.
Optimism is spreading in the US as Covid-19 deaths plummet and states ease restrictions and open vaccinations to younger adults, but experts say that the third wave crashing in Europe should serve as a warning against dropping safeguards too early, Jessica Glenza reports.
Pakistan has reported a big jump in new coronavirus infections, driven by a resurgence in its richest state and the spread of the UK variant of the virus.
Reuters reports:
3,495 people tested positive in the past 24 hours, the most daily infections since early December. Total cases rose past 615,000. Deaths rose by 61 to 13,717.
Most of the new cases came from Pakistan’s largest and richest province, Punjab.
Pakistani minister Asad Umar said on Twitter that hospital beds were filling fast, warning of stricter curbs if rules were not followed.
Meanwhile, the country reversed a decision taken in early February to allow private companies to import coronavirus vaccines and exempt these from price caps following criticism that it has sparked inequality.
Updated
Britain has formally challenged South Korea on regional rules singling out foreign workers for mandatory coronavirus testing as several other countries make similar moves.
Reuters reports:
The capital Seoul and neighbouring Gyeonggi Province are among a number of local governments that have ordered all foreign workers to be tested, drawing accusations of xenophobia.
“The British embassy has made clear to the national government and to the Seoul and Gyeonggi administrations that we consider these measures are not fair, they are not proportionate, nor are they likely to be effective,” ambassador Simon Smith said in a video posted on Twitter.
He said he had also raised the issue with South Korea’s human rights commission.
Canada’s ambassador retweeted the video and said several diplomatic missions were making similar representations.
Bulgaria announces new restrictions
Bulgaria will close schools, restaurants and shopping malls for 10 days from March 22 in a bid to stem rising Covid-19 infections that are putting pressure on its hospitals.
Reuters reports:
The Balkan country, which is due to hold a national election on 4 April, reported 4,201 new cases on Thursday, with 7,804 people in hospitals, including 609 in intensive care. There were 136 deaths related to Covid-19 in the past 24 hours.
In total, the country of 7 million people has reported 291,769 coronavirus cases and 11,715 deaths.
Updated
Now on BBC radio, UK housing secretary Robert Jenrick said it’s not yet the time for a formal public inquiry into the government’s handling of the Covid-19 pandemic, but that this might be warranted in future to look back and learn lessons. He said the focus now must be on the rollout of the vaccine, Reuters reports.
Updated
UK housing, communities and local government minister Robert Jenrick told LBC radio it is too early to speculate whether foreign holidays would be allowed the summer.
He is planning a staycation instead, though he said he hoped foreign travel would be an option. Transport minister Grant Shapps is currently looking at the issue of holidays abroad, Reuters reports.
Updated
Tanzania’s president, John Magufuli, one of Africa’s most prominent Covid-19 deniers, has died after a two-week absence from public life that prompted speculation that he had contracted the disease, Jason Burke reports.
Japan will end its months-long state of emergency in Tokyo on Thursday to reopn its economy, despite concerns of a coronavirus resurgence during its spring party season and next week’s Olympic torch relay.
Associated Press reports:
Tokyo and three neighbouring prefectures have been under emergency measures since 7 January, mainly requests for restaurants and bars to close at 8 p.m. and take preventive measures, as well as asking companies and employees to do more remote work. Similar emergency measures were lifted in six urban areas late last month.
Japan has managed to keep virus cases and deaths relatively low without enforcing a hard lockdown, with deaths related to Covid-19 at about 8,700 people.
Updated
A migration committee has advised the Australian government to reserve seats on flights and rooms in hotel quarantine for skilled migrants, as part of a suite of changes to make it easier for businesses to hire overseas workers.
Coronavirus cases on the rise in India
Coronavirus cases in India have risen by the most in three months as the country’s second wave hits, with Maharashtra, the wealthiest state, accounting for two-thirds of the latest daily tally.
Reuters reports:
Home to India’s commercial capital Mumbai, the western state reported 23,179 of the country’s 35,871 new cases in the past 24 hours, and the fast spreading contagion in major industrial areas raised risks of companies’ production being disrupted.
India’s total cases stood at 11.47 million, the highest after the United States and Brazil. Deaths rose by 172 to 159,216, according to health ministry data released on Thursday.
The country’s first wave peaked in September at nearly 100,000 cases a day, with daily infections hitting a low of just over 9,000 early last month.
Cases have been rising in Maharashtra since the reopening of most economic activities in February. Mumbai’s suburban trains, which carry millions of people daily, also resumed services.
The state, of 112 million people, ordered a fresh lockdown in some districts and put curbs on cinemas, hotels and restaurants until the end of the month after infections rose to a multi-month high earlier this week.
Updated
UK housing, communities and local government secretary Robert Jenrick is on Sky News this morning.
The UK is on track to meet its target of vaccinating all its priority groups one to nine by mid-April, which includes everyone over 50, those who are clinically extremely vulnerable, and frontline health and social care workers. “We have line of sight that we have enough vaccines to do that,” he says.
Communities Sec Robert Jenrick says there is "no reason to believe" that the roadmap out of lockdown will be slowed down by the drop in vaccine supplies over the coming weeks. He suggests the decrease in jabs is because of international supply issues.
— Rob Powell (@robpowellnews) March 18, 2021
Updated
Thai businesses will procure an additional 100,000 doses of China’s Sinovac Covid-19 for their employees in the first phase of a private sector vaccination scheme.
Reuters reports:
Other Southeast Asian countries including Indonesia and the Philippines have also launched private schemes, which proponents say will help kick-start key industries and cut the state burden, though some health experts warn that workers could be prioritised over more vulnerable sections of the population.
About 50,000 individuals in 109 companies, mostly in the food and drug sectors, are joining the scheme after an initial survey, FTI’s deputy secretary-general, Panitarn Pavarolavidya, said.
Rachel Hall here taking over from Helen Sullivan for the rest of the morning. Do send over any thoughts, ideas or tips to rachel.hall@theguardian.com.
That’s it from me, Helen Sullivan, from Australia – where we may have almost no coronavirus, but we sure as Sheila have a mouse plague:
Summary
Here are the key developments from the last few hours:
- Delaying England’s winter lockdown ‘caused up to 27,000 extra Covid deaths’. Delaying the winter lockdown caused up to 27,000 extra deaths in England, the Resolution Foundation thinktank has claimed as it accused the government of a “huge mistake” which should be central to any public inquiry into the UK’s handling of the pandemic.
- EU regulator to report on AstraZeneca Covid vaccine safety. Europe’s medicines regulator is under mounting pressure to clear up safety concerns over the Oxford/AstraZeneca Covid vaccine as experts warned that arguably political decisions to pause it in many countries risked seriously delaying the continent’s already sluggish vaccination drive.
- Brazil cases topped 90,000 for the first time. Brazil on Wednesday registered an unprecedented 90,303 new coronavirus cases, a day after the country reported a fresh record for deaths related to the virus, Reuters reports.Infections now total 11,693,838.Deaths rose by 2,648, the second highest tally after the record reported on Tuesday, bringing the total to 284,775.
- Poorest countries will suffer most from Covid downturn, the UN said. The poorest and most vulnerable countries will be the biggest losers from a pandemic downturn that will leave the global economy nursing $10tn (£7.2tn) of losses by the end of the year, according to the UN.
- Japan to lift Tokyo area state of emergency as planned on Sunday – minister. The Japanese government’s advisory panel on coronavirus countermeasures on Thursday approved a plan to let the state of emergency expire in the Tokyo area as scheduled on March 21, Economy Minister Yasuhisa Nishimura said.
- Older people more likely to catch Covid a second time. Older people who have recovered from Covid cannot assume they are immune from a second attack, according to a new study that shows the under-65s are much less susceptible to reinfection.
- Indian state of Maharashtra accounts for 65% of new daily cases. India reported 35,871 new coronavirus cases on Thursday, the highest in more than three months, with the worst-affected state of Maharashtra alone accounting for 65% of that.
- Tanzania’s Covid-denying president, John Magufuli, died aged 61. Tanzania’s president, John Magufuli , one of Africa’s most prominent Covid-19 deniers, has died after a two-week absence from public life which prompted speculation that he had contracted the disease.Magufuli’s death was announced on Wednesday by the country’s vice-president Samia Suluhu, who said the president died of heart failure. He was 61.
- UK foreign secretary said EU threat to block exports of vaccine needs ‘some explaining’. The British foreign minister, Dominic Raab, said on Wednesday that the European commission’s threat to ban exports of Covid-19 vaccines cut across previous assurances, adding that the commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, needed to explain herself.
- NHS chiefs fear collision course with ministers over Covid backlog. Hospital bosses are bracing themselves for a clash with ministers over how quickly they can clear the backlog of NHS care that built up during the pandemic.
- Blanket ‘do not resuscitate’ orders imposed on English care homes, finds CQC. Blanket orders not to resuscitate some care home residents at the start of the Covid pandemic have been identified in a report by England’s care regulator.
- Quarantine-free travel to Australia from New Zealand could be in place by end of April. Quarantine-free travel to Australia from New Zealand could be in place by the end of April, Radio New Zealand reports. Ministers are working on the proposal, which could be put to Cabinet as soon as Monday. Deputy prime minister Grant Robertson says he is “very optimistic” about the travel bubble being opened soon.
- Taiwan began AstraZeneca rollout. Taiwan could begin distributing the AstraZeneca vaccine next Monday, according to its Central Epidemic Command Center, following the arrival of a first batch of nearly 200,000 doses earlier this month.
- China doubled down on Covid narrative ahead of WHO report. Chinese state media are doubling down on Beijing’s narrative about the origins of the Covid-19 ahead of the much anticipated release of the World Health Organization’s findings. Liang Wannian, who led the Chinese side of the joint WHO investigation in January, told the Global Times that China did not find evidence of the virus earlier than December 8, 2019.
Poorest countries will suffer most from Covid downturn, says UN
The UN has said the poorest and most vulnerable countries will be the biggest losers from a pandemic downturn that will leave the global economy nursing $10tn (£7.2tn) of losses by the end of the year.
Despite becoming the latest international body to revise its growth forecast for 2021 upwards, the UN’s conference on trade and development (Unctad) said there were signs the pandemic would end with pre-crisis problems unresolved:
NHS chiefs fear collision course with ministers over Covid backlog
In England, hospital bosses are bracing themselves for a clash with ministers over how quickly they can clear the backlog of NHS care that built up during the pandemic.
They are warning that it will take “years” to treat all those whose care was cancelled because Covid disrupted so many hospital services, particularly surgery and diagnostic tests.
Staff shortages, exhaustion among frontline personnel after tackling the pandemic and their need to have a break mean that progress will be slower than the government expects, NHS trust chiefs say:
Indian state of Maharashtra accounts for 65% of new daily cases
India reported 35,871 new coronavirus cases on Thursday, the highest in more than three months, with the worst-affected state of Maharashtra alone accounting for 65% of that.
Total infections have now risen to 11.47 million, the highest after the United States and Brazil. Deaths rose by 172 to 159,216, data from the health ministry showed.
EU regulator to report on AstraZeneca Covid vaccine safety
Europe’s medicines regulator is under mounting pressure to clear up safety concerns over the Oxford/AstraZeneca Covid vaccine as experts warned that arguably political decisions to pause it in many countries risked seriously delaying the continent’s already sluggish vaccination drive.
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) is due on Thursday to announce the findings of its investigation into cases of bleeding, blood clots and low platelet counts in 30 of the vaccine’s recipients that have led many European countries to suspend it:
In Australia, inundated general practitioners say the government has undersupplied them with Covid-19 vaccine doses, mixed up their contact details on its national booking system, and failed to properly forewarn the sector of the content of Wednesday’s public announcement.
Some GP clinics are continuing to report scenes of chaos and huge demand from the public after the government’s troubled launch of its website to coordinate Covid vaccination appointments as part of stage 1b of the vaccine rollout.
However, the health minister, Greg Hunt, has played down reports of GP clinics frustrated at the website launch, reacting to concerns by saying “you would rather be in Australia than anywhere else in the world”.
The Guardian’s Christopher Knaus and Elias Visontay report:
Podcast: What do progressives make of Joe Biden’s presidency so far?
Lauren Gambino, political correspondent for Guardian US, discusses the $1.9tn Covid relief package, which was passed by Congress last week. It was seen as a major legislative victory for Joe BidenWhat do progressives make of Joe Biden’s presidency so far?
Lauren Gambino, political correspondent for Guardian US, discusses the $1.9tn Covid relief package, which was passed by Congress last week. It was seen as a major legislative victory for Joe Biden
Updated
China doubles down on Covid narrative ahead of WHO report
Chinese state media are doubling down on Beijing’s narrative about the origins of the Covid-19 ahead of the much anticipated release of the World Health Organization’s findings.
Liang Wannian, who led the Chinese side of the joint WHO investigation in January, told the Global Times that China did not find evidence of the virus earlier than December 8, 2019.
He also repeated major talking points that the virus was of “natural origin” and began at the Huanan seafood market in Wuhan, with “cold chain transmission” playing an important role in the spread of the virus. He said a lab leak was unlikely.
Liang also shot back at concerns raised by the US about the transparency of the WHO investigation and the upcoming report.
“Recently, some politicians and the media in the world insisted on politicizing the scientific issue of tracing the source of Covid, regardless of scientific facts, for their own personal gain, arbitrarily misinterpreting the scientific findings and reports of our joint team, which is a huge disrespect to the work of our scientists,” he said.
Liang denied reports of any conflicts between Chinese and international researchers during the investigation and said the international community should safeguard the “scientific spirit.”
China reported six new mainland Covid cases on 17 March up from four cases a day earlier, the country’s national health authority said on Thursday.
The National Health Commission said in a statement all of the new cases were imported infections originating from overseas. The number of new asymptomatic cases, which China does not classify as confirmed cases, fell to six from 15 a day earlier.
The total number of confirmed Covid cases in mainland China now stands at 90,066, while the death toll remained unchanged at 4,636.
Taiwan begins AstraZeneca rollout
Taiwan could begin distributing the AstraZeneca vaccine next Monday, according to its Central Epidemic Command Center, following the arrival of a first batch of nearly 200,000 doses earlier this month.
The vaccine was obtained through the World Health Organisation’s Covax program, although Taiwan is neither a member nor observer of the global health body due to objections from Beijing.
Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung said that health authorities would continue to review the side effects of Astra Zeneca after concerns were raised in Europe that it can lead to blood clots and other concerns.
Priority will be given first to health workers and people employed in quarantine centres, according to the government.
Taiwan’s Food and Drug Administration granted emergency approval of the vaccine in February although a domestically produced vaccines is still under way. Taiwan previously agreed to purchase around 10 million doses of Astra Zeneca and another 10 million doses from Covax and Moderna.
Vaccine rollout has been slower in Taiwan than some of its East Asian neighbours as it has seen just 10 deaths and less than 1,000 cases, according to the CECC.
Strict border controls and aggressive contact tracing in the early days of the pandemic have kept numbers low. Travellers are still required to undergo 14 days of quarantine and an additional week of “self-help management” following their arrival.
Older people more likely to catch Covid a second time
Older people who have recovered from Covid cannot assume they are immune from a second attack, according to a new study that shows the under-65s are much less susceptible to reinfection.
The study carried out in Denmark found that the under-65s had about 80% protection for at least six months from catching Covid a second time. But the over-65s had only 47% protection.
The authors of the research, published in the Lancet medical journal, say this means it is vital to take measures to protect elderly people, who also are more likely to die from Covid. “Our study confirms what a number of others appeared to suggest: reinfection with Covid-19 is rare in younger, healthy people, but the elderly are at greater risk of catching it again,” said Dr Steen Ethelberg from the Statens Serum Institut in Denmark:
Japan to lift Tokyo area state of emergency as planned on Sunday -minister
The Japanese government’s advisory panel on coronavirus countermeasures on Thursday approved a plan to let the state of emergency expire in the Tokyo area as scheduled on March 21, Economy Minister Yasuhisa Nishimura said.
Reuters: Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga had flagged the plan late on Wednesday, saying the availability of hospital beds had improved in Tokyo and three neighbouring prefectures.
“There was no objection to the plan,” Nishimura, who also heads Japan’s coronavirus response, said after a meeting with the advisory panel. He added, however, that experts noted that infections had been creeping up in recent days, and that a resurgence was bound to occur.
“The important thing is to make sure the rebound is not a big one - to keep the waves small,” Nishimura said. “We ask our citizens to continue to take the basic precautions to prevent the spread of infections.”
The government’s task force will meet later Thursday to finalise the plan, followed by a news conference by Prime Minister Suga at 7pm (10.00 GMT).
Tokyo, the capital, and neighbouring Kanagawa, Chiba and Saitama prefectures have remained under state of emergency restrictions since early January, with curbs asking restaurants and bars to close by 8pm and companies to allow more telecommuting.
While under pressure to bring Covid under control ahead of the Tokyo Olympics this summer, the government is eager to jumpstart economic activity in the Tokyo area, whose 36 million residents account for 30% of Japan’s population.
After the lifting of the emergency, the four prefectures will continue to ask eateries to close by 9pm, at least until the end of March, to reduce the chance of a resurgence in infections, Kanagawa Governor Yuji Kuroiwa said on Wednesday.
So far in Japan, roughly 447,000 people have tested positive and 8,676 have died from Covid as of Tuesday.
The head of New Zealand’s Olympics mission is hopeful that his team of 600 will get priority access to the Covid-19 vaccine so as to represent New Zealand in the Tokyo Games.Chef de mission Rob Waddell told Stuff he was waiting on government approval, with less than four months to go before the Games.
The Olympics, delayed a year, are due to start on 23 July, though there are still doubts about them going ahead.Last week Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said that the government was considering a special category in the vaccination rollout for people representing New Zealand at a national level, though no decisions have been made yet.
Delaying England's winter lockdown 'caused up to 27,000 extra Covid deaths'
Delaying the winter lockdown caused up to 27,000 extra deaths in England, the Resolution Foundation thinktank has claimed as it accused the government of a “huge mistake” which should be central to any public inquiry into the UK’s handling of the pandemic.
In an assessment of policy over the last year, it said delaying the start of the latest lockdown until January, despite evidence of fast-rising cases before Christmas, led to around a fifth of all fatalities caused by the virus. It said these could have been avoided if restrictions were put in place quickly enough to prevent the death rate rising from early December.
While it praised the vaccination programme – delivering jabs three times faster than Europe – and financial support for firms and workers which has included £6,700 for every household on average, it said mistakes on lockdowns were repeated “three tragic times”. It added that allowing extra deaths did not limit economic impacts, but rather increased them, because it only precipitated longer and more onerous lockdowns:
Quarantine-free travel to Australia from New Zealand could be in place by end of April
Quarantine-free travel to Australia from New Zealand could be in place by the end of April, Radio New Zealand reports.
Ministers are working on the proposal, which could be put to Cabinet as soon as Monday. Deputy prime minister Grant Robertson says he is “very optimistic” about the travel bubble being opened soon.
It would be conditional on there being no coronavirus outbreaks or lockdowns in the meantime.After a year of closed borders, New Zealanders have greeted the news with enthusiasm, particularly those with family in Australia and the tourism industry, which has been struggling in the absence of international visitors.The National party has been pressuring the government to open a travel bubble between the two countries immediately.
Blanket 'do not resuscitate' orders imposed on English care homes, finds CQC
Blanket orders not to resuscitate some care home residents at the start of the Covid pandemic have been identified in a report by England’s care regulator.
A report published by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) found disturbing variations in people’s experiences of do not attempt cardiopulmonary resuscitation (DNACPR) decisions during the pandemic.
Best practice is for proper discussions to be held with the person involved and/or their relatives. While examples of good practice were identified, some people were not properly involved in decisions or were unaware that such an important decision about their care had been made. Poor record-keeping, and a lack of oversight and scrutiny of the decisions being made, was identified:
Tanzania's Covid-denying president, John Magufuli, dies aged 61
Tanzania’s president, John Magufuli , one of Africa’s most prominent Covid-19 deniers, has died after a two-week absence from public life which prompted speculation that he had contracted the disease.
Magufuli’s death was announced on Wednesday by the country’s vice-president Samia Suluhu, who said the president died of heart failure. He was 61.
“The president of the United Republic of Tanzania, the honourable Dr John Pombe Joseph Magufuli … [has] died of a heart condition, at hospital Mzena in Dar es Salaam, where he was receiving treatment,” she said on state broadcaster TBC.
Magufuli had not been seen in public since 27 February and rumours swirled online that he was sick and possibly incapacitated from illness. Government officials had insisted Magufuli was working normally and citizens should ignore rumours from outside the country. Last week, the country’s opposition leader, Tundu Lissu, told the BBC that Magafuli was critically ill in a hospital in Kenya after contracting Covid-19:
Brazil cases top 90,000 for the first time
Brazil on Wednesday registered an unprecedented 90,303 new coronavirus cases, a day after the country reported a fresh record for deaths related to the virus, Reuters reports.
Infections now total 11,693,838.
Deaths rose by 2,648, the second highest tally after the record reported on Tuesday, bringing the total to 284,775.
UK foreign secretary says EU threat to block exports of vaccine needs ‘some explaining’
The British foreign minister, Dominic Raab, said on Wednesday that the European commission’s threat to ban exports of Covid-19 vaccines cut across previous assurances, adding that the commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, needed to explain herself.
Raab told Reuters:
I think it takes some explaining, because the world’s watching. We’ve, all of us, including with our European friends, been saying throughout the pandemic that you’d be wrong to curtail or interfere with lawfully-contracted supply. We all said it last year on PPE. We’ve been saying it this year, on vaccines and other things.
Frankly, I’m surprised we’re having this conversation. It is normally what the UK and EU team up with to reject when other countries with less democratic regimes than our own engage in that kind of brinkmanship.
Summary
Hello and welcome to today’s live coverage of the coronavirus pandemic with me, Helen Sullivan.
As always, you can find me on Twitter @helenrsullivan.
Tanzania’s president, John Magufuli, one of Africa’s most prominent Covid-19 sceptics, has died after a two-week absence from public life which prompted speculation that he had contracted the disease.
Meanwhile the British foreign minister, Dominic Raab, said on Wednesday that the European commission’s threat to ban exports of Covid-19 vaccines cut across previous assurances, adding that tthe commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, needed to explain herself.
- The UK will see a significant reduction in the amount of vaccines available from the end of March due to a cut in supply, a letter sent around the state-run health service said. National Health Service trusts in England were informed by the UK government’s vaccines task force that there will be “a significant reduction in vaccine supply” from 29 March, “meaning volumes for first doses will be significantly constrained.” Pfizer Inc said it was on track to meet its delivery targets for Covid-19 vaccines in the UK in line with an agreed monthly schedule.
- White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the US has received requests for Covid-19 vaccines from both Mexico and Canada and is considering them carefully, Reuters reports.
- Mexico has registered 6,455 new confirmed cases of coronavirus and 789 additional deaths, Reuters reports. It brings the total in the country to 2,175,462 cases and 195,908 deaths, health ministry data showed on Wednesday.
- The British foreign minister, Dominic Raab, said on Wednesday that the European commission’s threat to ban exports of Covid-19 vaccines cut across previous assurances, adding that the commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, needed to explain herself.
- Poland’s president, Andrzej Duda, has announced a tough new nationwide lockdown amid surging infections. The country’s health minister said shopping centres, theatres, cinemas and hotels will close from Saturday, while schools will have to switch to online learning.
- A World Health Organization vaccine safety panel said on Wednesday that it considers the benefits of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine to outweigh its risks and recommends that vaccinations continue.
- Norway is experiencing a third wave of coronavirus infections, health minister Bent Høie said. From 16 March tougher measures came into force in Oslo and the whole of Viken county, affecting about 1.2 million residents in a region where 82% of the country’s coronavirus infections are clustered, according to Høie.
