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Summary
- Under the global Covax scheme, Iraq is set to receive 336,000 doses of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine on Thursday.
- Turkey has begun initial talks to acquire the Russian-made Sputnik V vaccine, the health minister Fahrettin Koca said on Thursday. The minister added that the capital, Ankara would receive a total of 100m doses of Covid-19 vaccines by the end of May.
- Mexico’s Covid-19 death toll topped 200,000 on Thursday, making it the third country in the world to reach the devastating milestone as the country struggles with its vaccination rollout.
- An epidemiologist from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health told a briefing that while newly vaccinated people had a right to celebrate, they should act as if they are unvaccinated until two weeks after their second dose.
- The UK’s emergency coronavirus rules will continue for another six months.
- EU leaders backed “global value chains” rather than support Brussels in potentially blocking Covid jab exports, at a virtual EU summit.
- Romania battles a surge of Covid-19 infections that threatens to overwhelm its hospitals, as the government announces that Easter celebrations are planned to go ahead.
- Brazil registers a record 100,158 new Covid-19 cases within 24 hours, the health ministry said.
- The newly re-elected Dutch prime minister, Mark Rutte, said that London and Brussels could agree on a vaccine sharing by the weekend or “soon after” to avoid the imposition of an EU embargo, AFP reports.
I’m now passing over the blog to my colleague Alison Rourke.
Updated
The New York attorney general’s offices had called on ethics investigators to look into reports that governor Andrew Cuomo and others connected to him had received special access to Covid-19 tests when they were scarce last year.
AP reports:
The office of Attorney General Letitia James, Cuomo’s fellow Democrat, issued a statement urging New York’s Joint Commission on Public Ethics (JCOPE ) to investigate after the reports were published in the Times Union of Albany, the New York Times and The Washington Post.
“The recent reports alleging there was preferential treatment given for Covid-19 testing are troubling,” the statement read. “While we do not have jurisdiction to investigate this matter, it’s imperative that JCOPE look into it immediately.”
Walt McClure, a spokesperson for the ethics commission, said it could not comment “on anything that is or might be an investigative matter”.
Members of Cuomo’s family, including his brother, CNN journalist Chris Cuomo, his mother and at least one of his three sisters were tested, some of them several times, according to the Times Union of Albany.
The testing of people closely tied to the governor was carried out by high-ranking state health officials, the New York Times reported. It mostly happened in the early days of the pandemic in March 2020.
The Guardian’s Tom McCarthy has more on the story here:
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The newly re-elected Dutch prime minister, Mark Rutte, said that London and Brussels could agree on a vaccine sharing by the weekend or “soon after” to avoid the imposition of an EU embargo, AFP reports.
Speaking to reporters after the EU summit of the 27 member-states, Rutte said that he hoped the European commission would not need to block exports to the UK. “The Dutch authorities will follow that decision by the commission without itself having a view on that,” he said.
Rutte added: “I explained to [Boris Johnson, the UK prime minister] that this is not how this works in Europe and that this is not a bilateral decision between us and the UK.”
The UK-based Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine is set to deliver only 30m of a contracted 120m doses to Europe by the end of the month, which has angered EU leaders and led to threats of an embargo.
As the UK regards the Halix plant in the Netherlands, which is making the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, part of its own supply chain, officials from both sides are trying to negotiate a deal that could have knock-on effects for EU supplies.
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Brazil registers a record 100,158 new Covid-19 cases
Brazil registers a record 100,158 new Covid-19 cases within 24 hours, the health ministry said.
The soaring infection rate comes with 2,777 more Covid-19 deaths, and a day after the country surpassed 300,000 deaths from the virus – becoming the world second-worst death toll, after the United States.
Reuters reports:
Brazil’s outbreak has set weekly records due to a patchy vaccine rollout, a lack of national coordination and an infectious new variant.
Critics, including senior lawmakers with ties to the president, are increasingly blaming Bolsonaro for his handling of the pandemic. He has drawn sharp criticism for his efforts to block lockdowns, scorn masks and sow doubts over vaccines.
Bolsonaro also faces growing calls to replace foreign minister Ernesto Araujo over failures in the country’s Covid-19 response. Senate president Rodrigo Pacheco said on Thursday that Brazil’s foreign policy must improve, adding that it was up to Bolsonaro to decide if he would replace Araujo.
A close ideological ally of the president, Araujo has faced criticism for his barbs against vaccine superpower China and struggles to secure doses from the US stockpile.
Updated
EU leaders backed “global value chains” rather than support Brussels in potentially blocking Covid jab exports, despite being told that 21m doses had been sent to the UK.
At a virtual summit of the 27 EU heads of state and government, attended briefly by Joe Biden, the European commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, highlighted the large shipments sent over the Channel, amounting to two-thirds of the jabs given in the UK.
The lack of supply to the EU was emphasised by an early summit squabble between the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, and her Austrian counterpart, Sebastian Kurz, who demanded extra doses.
Merkel informed Kurz that the lack of vaccine in Austria was due to his government’s failure to order sufficient amounts rather than a failure in Brussels.
More on the earlier EU summit here:
As Romania battles a surge of Covid-19 infections that threatens to overwhelm its hospitals, the government announced that Easter celebrations are planned to go ahead.
In the devoutly Christian country, about 85% of its more than 19 million people identify as Orthodox, and about 4.5% are catholic.
AP reports:
The Easter announcement came as Romania this week reported its highest number of daily Covid-19 infections in three months, and hospital intensive care units recorded their highest numbers of patients since the start of the pandemic. Romania has recorded over 22,700 deaths in the pandemic.
“There is a limited amount of political battles any government can pick during Covid-19 times in order to stay popular,” Radu Magdin, a Bucharest-based political analyst, told the Associated Press. “Preventing physical Easter in an Orthodox country in times when people need safety but also hope is not one of those.”
Last year social distancing rules were enforced during Easter, and Romanians could not attend church. To allow the services to go ahead this year, social distancing and mask-wearing will be required, authorities said.
Romania currently has a nationwide curfew from 10pm to 5 am and, on Friday, tighter lockdown measures will take effect.
The prime minister also said he used Thursday’s meeting to urge religious authorities to support Romania’s vaccination campaign, which has delivered more than 2.6m vaccine shots so far.
Vasile Banescu, a spokesman for the head of the Romanian Orthodox Church, Patriarchate Daniel, said that social distancing measures would be strictly followed during the Easter services.
Updated
The press conference has now ended.
President Michel explains that Europe exports a lot of vaccines worldwide. Cooperating worldwide with the Covax scheme, he repeated to US president Joe Biden, is necessary to speed up the vaccine programme to ensure everyone is safe.
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On the question on whether tougher curbs on vaccine exports had been discussed, Von der Leyen explained that the EU is transparent and open, and welcomes other countries to be transparent with their exports.
She repeated that contracts should be fulfilled before exporting vaccines and should keep reciprocity, which needs to be transparent so supply chains stay intact. She stressed that companies that honour their contracts are important to the vaccine programme, both in Europe and worldwide.
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AFP journalist Christian Spillmann asks the presidents about the Istanbul convention and Turkey’s cooperation with the EU.
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On the relationship with the US, Von der Leyen speaks of a new partnership working together on new solutions to get the virus under control, combatting climate change, boosting innovation and defending human rights.
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She adds: “We want to make sure that Europe get their fair share of vaccines. The EU can be proud and is proud of its vaccine producers.”
President Von der Leyen says that this is the start of the third wave of Covid in Europe due to the B117 variant that is now in every member state but fatalities remain low due to vaccination efforts.
She said: “We know we could have been faster if all pharmaceutical companies fulfilled their contracts.”
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President Von der Leyen begins speaking.
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President Michel explains that the US and the EU have a responsibility for the future of democracy. He also said that European Union is a project of “peace and prosperity.”
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President Michel tells the EU council committee that they will work with member states to improve the economic development on their priorities.
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EU council committee meeting with President Charles Michel of the European council and President Ursula von der Leyen of the European commission to begin shortly.
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The UK’s emergency coronavirus rules will continue for another six months despite a rebellion by two dozen Conservative MPs seeking a quicker easing of lockdown restrictions.
The vote to extend the act was passed by 484 to 76, with 25 Conservatives voting against the government.
While the government’s 80-seat Commons majority, added to Labour’s support for the measures, meant a win was never in doubt, Boris Johnson and his ministers will have noted the scale and variety of objections from backbenchers.
MPs opted to pass without a vote regulation connected to the government’s roadmap out of lockdown, which was considered in the same debate but treated as a separate matter for voting.
More on the UK’s emergency Covid rules here:
Updated
An epidemiologist from the US Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health told a briefing that while newly vaccinated people had a right to celebrate their jabs, they should act as if they are unvaccinated until two weeks after their second dose.
Asked if vaccinated people could take different precautions, Dr Keri Althoff explained: “We want to make sure that with the mRNA vaccines you are two doses in plus 14 days, that is the time point at which you can feel vaccinated.
“We do a lot of social media postings of people just getting the vaccine, but we do need to give the body an appropriate amount of time to respond,” she said.
PA reports:
Dr Colleen Barry, an expert in public health, also based at Johns Hopkins, later echoed the need for caution.
She said: “I think it’s important for all of us to realise that this is a process, it’s not a light switch where we turn off Covid and turn back on what our life used to be like.
“It’s going to take some time for the vaccine to do its work, and it’s going to require high levels of vaccination within the public, so combatting vaccine hesitancy is critical to getting us there to that normal life where we don’t need to wear masks anymore.”
Updated
Mexico's death toll tops 200,000
Mexico’s Covid-19 death toll has topped 200,000 on Thursday, making it the third country in the world to reach the devastating milestone as the country struggles with its vaccination rollout.
As the holiday season approaches, many fear that a third wave of the virus could hit them while, at the same time, hospitals in places such as Mexico City and the neighbouring State of Mexico are overwhelmed by the previous wave of infections.
According to health ministry data, Mexico reported 5,787 new confirmed cases and 584 more fatalities that brought the total figures to 2,214,542 infections and 200,211 deaths.
Reuters reports:
“Just because the vaccines are here, it’s wrong to think that everything is solved ... It’s time for us to be more careful so this situation ends,” said 30-year-old cashier Pamela Padilla. She said she was fed up of being isolated or having to socially distance when going out.
Mexico began vaccinating the public against Covid-19 last year, one of the region’s earliest rollouts, but the effort has been hampered by delays in vaccine deliveries due to bottlenecks in supply, prompting the government to complain about hoarding by richer countries.
As of Wednesday, Mexico had administered 6.1m total vaccine doses, with only 767,979 people having received the full two doses, or just 0.6% of the population.
By comparison, in the United States, 130.5m total doses have been administered, and 14% of the population is fully vaccinated, according to data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
In order to better protect against a potential new wave of infections, Mexican president Andrés Manuel López Obrador said he would tap the armed forces and medical personnel to accelerate the rollout of Covid-19 vaccines.
“We must be prepared to face a possible third wave of the pandemic in better circumstances,” López Obrador said at a regular news conference on Wednesday.
In December last year, the president’s soft touch on Covid-19 restrictions had been a topic of conversation, as bars, cinemas, and shopping centres remained open while the country dealt with high infection rates and contradictory messaging on how residents should act.
But even after the government closed most non-essential activities in Mexico City, cases continued to rise, and fatalities soared due to the uncontrolled outbreak of the virus and the president downplaying the severity of the pandemic.
In January, the introduction of new US travel restrictions on travellers showing proof of a negative test was a hit to Mexico’s tourism after being a world outlier in refusing to implement travel restrictions.
Earlier this month, the US announced that they would loan 2.5m doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine to Mexico.
Updated
Turkey has begun initial talks to acquire the Russian-made Sputnik V vaccine, the health minister Fahrettin Koca said on Thursday.
The minister added that the capital, Ankara, would receive a total of 100m doses of Covid-19 vaccines by the end of May.
Reuters reports:
Turkey has until now been using Covid-19 shots developed by China’s Sinovac Biotech Ltd, and it has carried out 14.13m inoculations, with 8.18 million people having received a first dose, since 14 January when the nationwide rollout began.
In a statement after a meeting with his coronavirus science council, Koca also said Turkey would be receiving 4.5m doses of the vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech by early April.
Updated
Under the global Covax scheme, Iraq is set to receive 336,000 doses of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine on Thursday.
Health minister Hassan al-Tamimi came to Baghdad airport to welcome the shipment and watched as the cases were unloaded into refrigerated trucks, Reuters reports.
Iraq received its first coronavirus vaccines of 50,000 Sinopharm doses from China on 2 March but has since struggled with demand.
On Thursday, the country recorded its highest ever daily toll with more than 6,500 new infections, bringing the total to 815,605.
Hi, I’m Edna Mohamed. I’ll be taking over from my colleague Mattha Busby. As always, you can email me at edna.mohamed.casual@theguardian.com or drop me a message on Twitter.
Updated
Summary
- EU leaders are likely to shy away from supporting the use of new powers to block Covid vaccine shipments to countries with better jab coverage such as the UK, with Pfizer describing bloc export restrictions on Covid-19 vaccines as a “lose-lose” situation for everyone.
- Ursula von der Leyen revealed to EU leaders that 21m doses of Covid vaccine have been exported to the UK from suppliers based in the bloc’s member states as she emphasised the need to secure jabs at home.
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The EU has been overly cautious and budget conscious over Covid vaccines and should step back from waging a “stupid vaccine war” with Britain, the former European commission president Jean-Claude Juncker said.
- Novavax is delaying signing a contract to supply its Covid-19 vaccine to the EU, according to a bloc official involved in the talks, as the US biotech company warned it was struggling to source some raw materials.
- Iceland will resume the use of AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine after suspending it on 11 March pending investigations into reports that it might be linked to blood clots in some people who had been vaccinated, the government has said. It comes after Sweden said it would resume use of the jab but only people aged 65 and older, while Denmark announced an extension of the suspension for another three weeks.
- Israel has administered two doses of the Covid-19 vaccine to more than half its population, the country’s health minister said, though the country continues to be dogged by criticism for not doing more to enable Palestinian vaccination.
- Italy will fail to met an EU target of vaccinating 80% of citizens aged over 80 by the end of March, a leading health institute said, questioning the vaccine policies of many local health authorities.
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Ukraine registered a record number of coronavirus deaths for the third straight day, health authorities said, as new infections also reached a record high.
- People wishing arrive in Germany by plane are set to be required to show a negative Covid test before boarding from Sunday, the health ministry said, as airlines lay on hundreds of extra flights to cope with a surge in demand after Mallorca was taken off the country’s red list.
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New York governor Andrew Cuomo set up friends and family members with scarce coronavirus tests when most New Yorkers did not have access to them in the early days of the pandemic, according to multiple reports.
- Chilean health officials extended a lockdown across the capital Santiago in an attempt to tame a second wave of infections even as the South American nation continues with the world’s fastest per capita vaccination campaign.
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New Zealanders overseas reacted with despair to news that the government has doubled the time returning citizens are required to stay to avoid paying a $3,100 quarantine fee.
Pfizer and German partner BioNTech have begun testing their Covid-19 vaccine in children under 12, with hopes of expanding vaccination to that age range by early 2022, the US drugmaker has said.
Reuters reports:
The first volunteers in the early-stage trial were given their first injections on Wednesday, Pfizer spokesperson Sharon Castillo said.
The Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine was authorised by US regulators in late December for people age 16 and older. Nearly 66 million doses of the vaccine had been administered in the US as of Wednesday morning, according to data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The paediatric trial, which will include children as young as 6 months, follows a similar one launched by Moderna last week.
Only the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine is being used in 16- and 17-year-olds in the US. Moderna’s shot was cleared for those age 18 and older, and no Covid-19 vaccine has been authorised in younger kids yet.
Ursula von der Leyen has revealed to EU leaders that 21m doses of Covid vaccine have been exported to the UK from suppliers based in the bloc’s member states as she emphasised the need to secure jabs at home.
At a virtual summit of the 27 heads of state and government, the European commission president used an address to highlight the dependency of the British government on EU supplies.
She disclosed that 77m doses made by producers in the EU had been shipped to 33 countries since 1 December. Of those 21m went to the UK of which just over 1 million were from AstraZeneca, with the rest supplied by Pfizer. “While remaining open, the EU needs to ensure Europeans get a fair share of vaccines,” she tweeted.
Chilean health officials have extended a lockdown across the capital Santiago in an attempt to tame a second wave of infections even as the South American nation continues with the world’s fastest per capita vaccination campaign.
Reuters reports:
Cases in Chile have been ticking up for weeks following the end of the southern hemisphere summer holiday, but topped a record on Saturday, putting hospitals under severe pressure.
Authorities announced a raft of new restrictions today, clamping down on travel inside the country and temporarily eliminating permits that allow those in quarantine to leave their homes to go grocery shopping, calling the more extreme measures “a last effort”.
Large swathes of Santiago, a city of more than 6 million and the country’s economic engine, were already under lockdown, but officials said the remainder of the city would also be quarantined to slow the virus’s spread.
The new restrictions come even as Chile, a comparatively small but wealthy Andean nation, is currently vaccinating faster per capita than any other, according to a Reuters tabulation of countries with populations of more than 1 million.
Updated
EU export restrictions on Covid-19 vaccines present a “lose-lose” situation for everyone, including EU members, a Pfizer executive said, a day after the bloc tightened its oversight of shot deliveries beyond its borders.
“We have observed these recent developments with concern,” Sabine Bruckner, Swiss country manager for Pfizer, said at a Swiss government press conference.
“Our executive leadership has been in direct contact with the European Union. Our position has been laid out, we are very critical, we can’t support it at all,” she added. “Should it really come to export restrictions, that would be a ‘lose-lose’ situation for everyone, also for the members of the EU.”
Bloc leaders are likely to shy away from supporting the use of new powers to block Covid vaccine shipments to countries with better jab coverage such as the UK, according to a draft statement before a meeting of the bloc’s heads of state and government.
Updated
Greece has lifted a one-week quarantine rule for Israeli travellers who are vaccinated against Covid-19 and test negative, the civil aviation authority said.
Reuters reports:
Israeli travellers who show a certificate proving that their inoculation was completed two weeks ago and a negative PCR test 72 hours prior to travel to Greece will not need to quarantine for a week, the Greek civil aviation authority said in an advisory.
The new rule will be in force until 5 April, it said. Under current rules, all foreigners arriving in Greece should test negative and quarantine for seven days. For passengers from Britain and the United Arab Emirates, a second negative test is required before they exit the one-week quarantine.
Greece plans to open its tourism sector, a key growth driver for the economy, to people who are vaccinated against Covid-19, have antibodies or test negative from May.
The pandemic is accelerating almost everywhere in France, the French health minister Olivier Veran has said.
He added that three additional regions would be put under lockdown, including the area around the city of Lyon.
It comes amid mounting concern among health experts that France is not doing enough to curb a rise in Covid infections.
The Paris region and a large part of northern France is already in a third lockdown.
Updated
Kenya is to allow private hospitals to charge for Covid vaccinations and will not set a price limit on their cost – a measure charities warn would “price out the poor” and create greater inequalities.
Reuters reports:
The East African nation of more than 50 million people has so far received 1 million vaccine doses through the World Health Organization’s COVAX facility, and plans to procure another 11 million for the public sector in the coming months.
Patrick Amoth, acting director general at the health ministry, said private hospitals would be permitted to import coronavirus vaccines, subject to the necessary approvals, and offer their own inoculation service.
“The private sector plays a critical role in health services and they cannot be excluded from the provision of vaccination services, which is part of the routine services that they do provide,” Amoth told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
“They have been excluded so far because of the limited supply of vaccines, but as more vaccines come onto the platform, definitely they will have a role,” he said, adding that the private sector provided almost 48% of health services in Kenya.
Amoth said the government would not put a price cap on vaccines and would allow “market forces” to determine the cost. Those who cannot afford the vaccine will be able to get it free-of-charge from public hospitals, he added.
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Portugal has extended its state of emergency for 15 days as its gradually eases strict lockdown measures imposed in mid-January.
Reuters reports:
The country started to relax the restrictions on 15 March, reopening bookshops, kindergartens, pre-schools, primary schools and hair salons.
On Thursday, parliament approved the extension to mid-April of the state of emergency but, if the pandemic continues to ease, museums, restaurant terraces and markets will reopen before then.
Under Portuguese law, a state of emergency is limited to 15 days but can be extended indefinitely in 15-day periods.
In January, the pandemic brought the country’s fragile health service to its knees but daily case numbers have dropped sharply since then and stabilised over recent weeks.
Ministers will meet on Friday to review the current plans to ease the lockdown. In a measure agreed in mid-March, Portuguese residents will be banned from travelling between municipalities between Friday and 5 Aprilto during the traditionally busy Easter period.
Portugal, a nation of just over 10 million, reported 423 new Covid-19 cases today while the death toll rose by nine to 16,814.
Updated
People wishing arrive in Germany by plane are set to be required to show a negative Covid test before boarding from Sunday, the health ministry said.
AFP has the full story:
The new decree must still be approved by chancellor Angela Merkel’s cabinet, which is expected to happen in the next 24 hours, the ministry told AFP.
“All travellers wishing to enter Germany by plane from March 28 ... must take a mandatory test before departure,” the official said. Airline crews are exempt from the new rules. The test must be less than 48 hours old and is to be paid for by the passenger.
The Easter holidays next week have added to concerns, with thousands of Germans set to travel to the Spanish island of Mallorca after it was recently taken off Germany’s list of coronavirus “risk areas”.
Airlines are laying on hundreds of extra flights to cope with the surge in demand, piling pressure on the government to find ways to ensure that returning holidaymakers do not worsen the Covid’s spread in Germany.
Until now, only passengers coming from “high-risk” coronavirus areas are required to show a negative test upon arrival in Germany.
Updated
Gibraltar is to end its nightly coronavirus curfew tonight and over the weekend will drop a rule mandating the use of face masks on busy streets, the government said.
AFP has it:
The easing of restrictions is possible because the number of infections is “now extremely low” thanks to a “successful vaccination programme”, minister for civil contingencies, Samantha Sacramento, said.
The tiny British territory on Spain’s southern coast imposed a 10pm to 6am curfew on 27 December as infections and deaths soared. It was eased on 14 March to between midnight and 5am.
But from Thursday night there will be no more curfew and bars and restaurants will be permitted to remain open until 2am, the government said in a statement. In addition, as of Sunday, masks will no longer be required on Gibraltar’s pedestrianised Main Street and its surrounding streets.
Face masks will continue to be required in enclosed public spaces, shops and on public transport. “We are at least leaving behind us our deadliest winter and entering our most hopeful spring,” Gibraltar’s chief minister Fabian Picardo said.
The pandemic has claimed 94 lives in Gibraltar, nearly all of them in January and February this year, and infected more than 4,200 of its roughly 34,000 residents since outbreaks began in 2020.
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The US government has stopped distribution of Eli Lilly’s Covid-19 antibody therapy, bamlanivimab, due to the impact of rapidly spreading coronavirus variants on the drug’s efficacy.
Reuters has it:
The US department of health and human services (HHS) said on Wednesday it stopped distribution of the therapy due to a sustained increase in SARS-CoV-2 viral variants in the US that are resistant to bamlanivimab when administered alone.
“We recognize the US government has made the decision to no longer allow direct ordering of bamlanivimab alone due to concerns about the prevalence of the California B.1.427/B.1.429 and New York B.1.526 variants of Sars-CoV-2,” Lilly said in an email.
All treatment delivery sites will continue to be able to order Lilly’s combination therapy of two antibodies, bamlanivimab and etesevimab, and a two-antibody cocktail developed by Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc, the US food and drug administration said.
“We believe that sites with access to bamlanivimab and etesevimab for administration together should use that therapy over bamlanivimab alone,” Lilly said.
EU vaccine campaign further hampered by Novavax delay
Novavax is delaying signing a contract to supply its Covid-19 vaccine to the EU, according to a bloc official involved in the talks, as the US biotech company warned it was struggling to source some raw materials.
Reuters has the story:
Prolonging the talks might further complicate the EU’s vaccination plans as the bloc had planned to sign a deal early this year for at least 100 million doses of Novavax’s vaccine, with an option for another 100 million.
The EU official, who asked not to named as the talks are confidential, said the company had postponed signing a deal for weeks, citing legal issues in meetings with the bloc’s vaccine negotiators.
“They are slowing down the process of finishing the contract,” the official, who attended the meetings, told Reuters.
Informally, a Novavax executive had said a slow pace in negotiations was warranted because the company was having production problems, the EU official said.
A Novavax spokeswoman said the company was working “through some pandemic-related raw materials supply shortages”, without giving details.
Iceland will resume the use of AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine after suspending it on 11 March pending investigations into reports that it might be linked to blood clots in some people who had been vaccinated, the government has said.
It comes after Sweden today said it would resume use of the jab but only people aged 65 and older, while Denmark announced an extension of the suspension for another three weeks.
India has not imposed a ban on coronavirus vaccine exports and New Delhi will continue to supply vaccines in a phased manner, a government source has claimed.
“We had stated that keeping in view the domestic requirements of the phased roll out, India will continue to supply Covid-19 vaccines to partner countries over the coming weeks and months in a phased manner,” the source told Reuters.
“This position remains unchanged. We have not imposed any ban on exports of vaccines, unlike many other countries,” said the source.
Iraq has received 336,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine through the UN’s Covax programme, in the second delivery for the Arab state worst hit by Covid.
AFP reports:
The country of 40 million inhabitants that has been ravaged by decades of war launched vaccinations at the start of March with 50,000 Sinopharm jabs donated by China.
With a state budget that has yet to be agreed, Baghdad has remained dependent on donations such as the doses of South Korean-manufactured AstraZeneca vaccine flown in under the Covax-programme for the world’s poorer countries.
Covid-19 cases in Iraq have soared, with a new record of 6,513 new confirmed infections in 24 hours, including 33 deaths, registered on Thursday. Officially, 815,605 cases and 14,128 deaths have been recorded in Iraq, whose health ministry has yet to be allocated a budget.
Bahraini authorities have said that a number of people with coronavirus in a prison have been isolated, with those concerned in stable conditions.
Reuters reports:
On Tuesday the authority in charge of prisons said three cases had been discovered. It said contacts had been isolated and sterile cleaning had been carried out.
Western-allied Bahrain has come under pressure from human rights organisations over prison conditions including overcrowding, poor sanitation and lack of medical care.
Hundreds of opposition politicians, activists, journalists and human rights defenders are in prison following an uprising in 2011 and subsequent years of government crackdowns.
Opposition figures have said at least six inmates in Jaw prison have had positive Covid-19 test results this week.
Dissolved opposition group al-Wefaq, which has called for the release of prisoners of conscience since the start of the pandemic, said inmates’ health had been exhausted by years of torture and inhumane conditions.
Germany is likely to classify Frances as a “high incidence” zone of Covid-19 from Friday bringing stricter quarantine requirements, according to a report in Germany.
The Frankfurter Alllgemeine newspaper reports it has been told that the classification is being recommended by Germany’s Robert Koch Institute.
The move has yet to be approved by the federal government however, according to the report.
Updated
Italy to miss EU target on vaccinations - health institute
Italy will fail to met an EU target of vaccinating 80% of citizens aged over 80 by the end of March, a leading health institute has said, questioning the vaccine policies of many local health authorities.
Some 4.4 million people aged over 80 live in Italy, and just 19.1% of them, or 846,000, have received the recommended double dose, while 27.4% had received an initial COVID-19 jab, the report by the Gimbe institute said.
“The percentage of those who have had twin shots puts Italy at the bottom of Europe,” Gimbe president Nino Cartabellotta told Radio24.
The European Union has said at least 80% of the bloc’s over 80s should be vaccinated by the end of March, while a minimum 70% of the adult population should be vaccinated “by summer 2021”.
The release of the Gimbe data came a day after Prime Minister Mario Draghi complained that Italy’s 20 regions were not all following government directives to give priority to older people, who are most at risk from coronavirus.
“Some (regions) are neglecting their elderly in favour of groups that proclaim priority, probably on the basis of some influence,” Draghi told the Senate, adding that this disparity was “very difficult to accept”.
Austria’s chancellor Sebastian Kurz has warned that the EU would be greatly harmed if Covid vaccines were not distributed more equitably between member states.
Reuters has the story:
Kurz, who made the comment shortly before an EU summit at which the bloc’s vaccine strategy is to be discussed, has led a campaign with counterparts from five eastern European nations to correct what they say is an uneven distribution.
The bloc agreed doses would be distributed in line with population but Kurz said that has been undermined by deals between the EU vaccine steering board - which is negotiating on behalf of EU states - and drug companies.
“If no solution is found here it could cause damage to the European Union the likes of which we have not seen in a long time,” Kurz told a news conference. “Many have invested an incredible amount of time in recent days to find a path towards an adjustment here and I am optimistic that it will succeed.”
Back in March 2020, nobody knew Brazil was also barreling towards its most devastating public health catastrophe since the Spanish flu, or that president Jair Bolsonaro would so ruinously mishandle an epidemic that has now killed more than 300,000 of his citizens, his wife’s grandmother included.
On 24 March 2020, with Brazil’s Covid death toll at 46, Bolsonaro claimed the pandemic was being exaggerated “and soon it will pass”. Yesterday, exactly a year later, the number of fatalities surpassed 300,000 after a record 3,000 lives were lost for the first time in a single day. Only the US, governed until January by Bolsonaro’s rightwing inspiration, Donald Trump, has suffered greater losses, with scant sign of Brazil’s outbreak being brought under control.
New Zealanders overseas have reacted with despair to news that the government has doubled the time returning citizens are required to stay to avoid paying a $3,100 quarantine fee.
The changes, announced yesterday, mean people coming home from overseas will need to stay six months, rather than the previous three, to be exempt from the fee – a move the government has said will help make the managed isolation system “more financially sustainable”.
But the change adds another barrier for those hoping to visit family in New Zealand or find respite from pandemic conditions overseas.
The EU should redouble its efforts to produce its own doses of Covid vaccines, as it faces continued issues over supply from pharmaceutical companies, German chancellor Angela Merkel has said.
AP reports:
Speaking to parliament ahead of an EU summit, Merkel acknowledged that the vaccination rollout in Germany has not gone as quickly as hoped. But she rejected criticism that not enough shots had been ordered, instead saying it was more about how many had been delivered.
“We can see clearly that British facilities are producing for Great Britain. The US isn’t exporting, and therefore we are dependent upon what can be produced in Europe,” she said.
At the summit, she said European leaders planned to talk about how the bloc can ensure a steadier vaccine supply for the future.
Merkel has previously urged the EU to be “very careful” with vaccine export bans. But she has said she supports efforts by the bloc’s executive Commission to ensure that vaccine contracts are fulfilled, citing the supply problems the EU has had with the AstraZeneca shot.
Russia has started producing CoviVac, its third vaccine against Covid, and will soon make it available for use in its regions, though phase three trials are still under way, officials have said.
Reuters reports:
The most well-known Russian coronavirus vaccine is Sputnik V. Moscow has also given emergency approval to two shots, EpiVacCorona and CoviVac.
“The third Russian vaccine is entering civilian circulation and will appear in the regions in the coming days,” the science and higher education ministry said.
The Chumakov Centre plans to produce up to 10 million doses of the vaccine a year, the ministry said.
Science minister Valery Falkov said that phase three trials of the vaccine had begun, the Interfax news agency reported. The Chumakov Centre’s director said phase three trials would be completed within half a year, Interfax reported.
Updated
Europe’s drugs regulator has said its safety panel will convene a meeting of experts on 29 March to continue studying the reported cases of blood clots linked to the Covid-19 vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University.
External medical experts and two public representatives are expected to give their views on possible reasons for the clots, how they are occurring and other possible risks, the European Medicines Agency said. The EMA has already backed the vaccine’s safety but some states and conducting their own reviews.
Sweden to resume AstraZeneca jab rollout for over-65s, but keep in place for others
Sweden will resume use of AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine for people aged 65 and older, the health agency said, but the pause is to remain in place for younger Swedes as it continues to investigate a potential link between the shots and rare cases of blood clots.
“The vaccine is of great use for the elderly, among whom many fall seriously ill each day,” director general Johan Carlson said. “At the same time, we haven’t seen these rare and serious side effects among our elderly. That is the background to why we are lifting the suspension for people older than 65.”
The EU has been overly cautious and budget conscious over Covid vaccines and should step back from waging a “stupid vaccine war” with Britain, the former European commission president Jean-Claude Juncker has said.
Juncker, who was replaced by Ursula von der Leyen in 2019, compared the EU’s approach to vaccination unfavourably with that of Britain where the rollout has been speedier.
He also said he was “not a fan” of the commission’s export authorisation mechanism under which officials have been empowered to prohibit shipments.
Andrew Cuomo set up friends and family members with scarce coronavirus tests when most New Yorkers did not have access to them in the early days of the pandemic, according to multiple reports.
In March 2020, the New York governor provided tests – and in some cases repeated rounds of testing – to his brother, the CNN anchor Chris Cuomo; to a sister; to their mother; to multiple top government officials and their spouses; to state legislators and staffers; and to other friends of the administration, the Albany Times Union first reported.
German investigators have arrested a suspect in connection with the “mask affair” corruption scandal involving several politicians from chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative alliance, prosecutors have said.
AFP reports:
The suspect, who was not named, has been detained and investigators have seized “extensive” assets belonging to them, the public prosecutor’s office in Munich said.
Several politicians from Merkel’s CDU-CSU alliance have been implicated in the so-called mask affair which has seen them accused of profiting directly or indirectly from coronavirus mask contracts.
It is unclear if the arrested suspect is one of the lawmakers embroiled in the scandal or another individual. The prosecutors are investigating a total of five suspects in connection with the scandal, which has contributed to plummeting support for Merkel’s conservatives six months before general elections.
CSU lawmaker Georg Nuesslein was last month placed under investigation for corruption following accusations that he accepted around 600,000 euros ($715,000) to lobby for a mask supplier.
Thailand’s resort island of Phuket is pushing to waive compulsory quarantine for tourists vaccinated against Covid from July, when it expects 70% of its local population to have been inoculated.
Reuters reports tourism minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn saying:
On 1 July, we will be able to have tourists who have received two vaccine doses come to Phuket without having to stay in quarantine.
After one week on the island, without symptoms and with negative tests, they can travel to the rest of the country.
Thailand, which has seen fewer than 100 deaths from Covid, will from next month allow vaccinated visitors to undergo one week of quarantine instead of the required two weeks.
Thai Hotels Association president Marisa Sukosol Nunbhakdi said hotels had become “zombies”, with immense debt and no profits.
The government has to expedite approval of additional vaccine brands and import more vaccines and inoculate more people immediately.
Updated
Oman is to impose a curfew from 8pm to 5am from Sunday and until 8 April, as Gulf states tightens restrictions in an attempt to curb a rise in coronavirus cases, state media reports.
No movement will be allowed during those times and an evening ban on all commercial activities imposed on 1 March will be extended, they cited a statement by the coronavirus committee as saying.
Here’s more on the Danish decision.
Danish health authority director general Soeren Brostroem has spoken of the “extra precautionary principles” it has exercised.
Many may wonder whether we are overcautious. To that I will say, ‘You can say that’, We have added extra precautionary principles.
Brostroem said that if Denmark resumed using the AstraZeneca vaccine, people would be given the option of declining the vaccine from the Anglo-Swedish drug maker.
“You can wait and get another one,” he said. Denmark is also vaccinating people with jabs made by Pfizer and Moderna.
About 150,000 people in Denmark have had a shot of the AstraZeneca vaccine.
“Right now, we believe that our basis for making a final decision on the further use of the Covid-19 vaccine by AstraZeneca is too uncertain,” Brostroem said. “Many studies have been launched, but we do not yet have any conclusions. That is why we have decided to extend the break.”
Updated
The head of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has warned against a “vaccine war” among nations amid renewed fears vaccine shipments to the continent face delays (see 11.13am).
AP has the full story:
John Nkengasong said in a briefing that he “truly feels helpless that this situation is going to significantly impact our ability to fight this virus,” referring to reports that the Serum Institute of India is suspending major exports of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine in order to meet rising demand at home.
“Without ramping [up] access to vaccines we will be challenged, continue to be challenged. Lives will be lost,” he said. “The battle has to be a collective battle,” he said, adding that he remains hopeful “that the power of humanity will prevail.
“There is absolutely no need, absolutely no need for us as humanity to go into a vaccine war to fight this pandemic. We will all be losers.”
Denmark: AstraZeneca jab rollout halt extended for another three weeks
Danish officials have decided to continue their suspension of the AstraZeneca Covid vaccine for three more weeks while they continue evaluating it, saying that a link between the jab and unusual blood clots cannot be ruled out.
AP reports:
The decision “was made on the basis of presumed side effects”, Tanja Erichsen of the Danish Medicines Agency said. Denmark paused the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine as a precautionary measure on 11 March after reports that a 60-year-old woman died with blood clots in several parts of her body a week after she received the vaccine, according to health officials.
The death of a second person in Denmark who died after getting the AstraZeneca vaccine was reported shortly after. Danish health authorities said they have no evidence the vaccine was responsible for either death.
“I would like to emphasise that I am not talking about ordinary blood clots,” Erichsen said. “It is not about blood clots in the arms, legs and lungs. It can’t be ruled out that there is a connection between the vaccine and the very rare blood clot cases.”
The pause will last at least until 18 April. Norway and Sweden also have paused the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine. Several European countries that had suspended using the vaccine have resumed administering it after the European Union’s drug regulator said it was safe.
Updated
A story for our times ...
Preliminary discussions to map out the contours of the next Dutch governing coalition ground to a halt today after one of the two officials leading the talks tested positive for Covid.
AP has it:
The government information service said that planned meetings were cancelled following the positive test result for Kajsa Ollongren, who is also caretaker interior minister and deputy prime minister in the outgoing coalition.
Ollongren is the second member of prime minister Mark Rutte’s cabinet to test positive this week, following state secretary for economic affairs and climate Mona Keijzer. Rutte, who oversaw a Cabinet meeting on Friday, has tested negative.
The coalition talks are expected to take weeks or months. Rutte’s conservative VVD party won the most seats in an election last week for the lower house of parliament but will need to enlist other parties to gain a majority in the 150-seat legislature.
Updated
Ukraine has registered a record number of coronavirus deaths for the third straight day, health authorities have said, as new infections also reached a record high.
AFP has the latest:
The ex-Soviet country’s ageing healthcare system is struggling to cope with the contagion and its vaccination drive has made a stuttering start.
Health officials reported 16,669 new infections and 362 deaths, which topped the previous records of 342 set on Wednesday and 333 a day earlier.
Over the weekend, the capital Kiev reintroduced restrictions to stem the spread of the virus, shutting cultural venues and large shopping centres and limiting restaurants to takeouts.
Ukraine, one of Europe’s poorest countries, has so far received only 500,000 doses of the AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine for its population of 40 million people.
Ukraine, population 44 million, has recorded over 1.5 million infections and more than 31,000 deaths since the start of the pandemic.
A study of pharmacies in reportedly vaccine-hesitant France has revealed that up to 1.5m people have put their names on waiting lists for the Covid vaccine.
Most of those are aged 55-74 with underlying health conditions. However, the study found 67% of pharmacies surveyed reported at least one customer refusing the AstraZeneca vaccine after recent controversies and reports of possible secondary effects; in 27% of pharmacies polled the number of patients refusing to be inoculated with AZ rose to more than 10.
France has more than 21,000 pharmacies authorised to prepare and deliver prescribed medication of which 18,400 were due to begin giving AZ vaccinations earlier this month.
The programme was paused in France and many other countries after the emergence of reports of extremely rare thrombosis cases in people, mostly women under 55, who had been given the AZ vaccine. The World Health Organisation (WHO) and European Medicines Agency (EMA) said the benefits of the AZ vaccine vastly outweighed the risks, and the AZ vaccination programme resumed four days later, but in a country with a large number of vaccine sceptics, the damage was done.
Pharmacies are allowed to inject the AZ vaccine only, which in France is restricted to those over 55 for the moment. Patients wishing to have the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines must visit their GP.
The survey was carried out by Gilles Bonnefond, president of the Pharmacies’ Union, who said he quizzed 2,400 of the organisation’s members. He told FranceInfo that many of those on the waiting lists were “younger”.
As Laurent-Henri Vignaud, a science historian and author of the 2019 book Antivax examining vaccine scepticism in the west since the 18th century, told the Guardian in January: “There’s a very big difference between what the French say and what they do.”
Updated
India is holding up export licences for Covid-19 vaccines destined for poor countries due to increased domestic demand as its own cases rise, Covax facility co-leader Gavi has said.
AFP has the story:
The AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine is being produced under licence in India for the Covax scheme, also led by the World Health Organization (WHO), which is meant to ensure that low-income countries can access Covid-19 jabs.
But shipments planned for the rest of March and April are now being delayed.
“Delays in granting further export licenses for Serum Institute (SII) of India-produced Covid-19 vaccine doses are due to the increased demand of Covid-19 vaccines in India,” a Gavi spokesman told AFP.
“SII has pledged that, alongside supplying India, it will prioritise the Covax multilateral solution for equitable distribution. Covax is in talks with the government of India with a view to ensuring deliveries as quickly as possible.”
Covax has so far shipped more than 31 million doses of the 238 million doses it was supposed to by the end of May.
Mattha Busby here taking the reins from my colleague Tobi Thomas. Hello to everyone reading. Do drop me a line on Twitter with any tips or thoughts. Thanks!
Nine countries in Africa have received their first delivery of Covid-19 vaccines donated by the MTN Group.
Reuters reports:
The first 723,000 of up to 7 million Covid-19 vaccine doses that MTN Group is donating to African countries have arrived in nine nations, the African Union’s disease control body said on Thursday.
John Nkengasong, the director of Africa CDC, told a news conference that Ghana, Gambia, Liberia, Guinea Bissau, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Senegal, Mauritius and Togo had received doses from the South African telecoms company.
Several other countries, including South Sudan and Malawi, are due to receive doses in the coming days.
MTN is donating $25 million to support the African Union’s vaccination programme. The doses will be distributed to health workers across the bloc’s 55 member states, MTN said this week.
Updated
Germany reports significant jump in infection rates
Germany has seen an overnight jump in infection rates, with 22,657 new cases reported by the country’s disease control agency over the last 24 hours – a week-on-week rise of 5,000 and the highest daily rate since the second week of January.
Infection rates in Germany remain below the EU average but are now higher than in the United States for the first time since the start of the pandemic.
Signs of an accelerating third wave come a day after Angela Merkel U-turned on plans for a strict Easter lockdown, originally designed as a bulwark against what the chancellor called “a new pandemic” driven by the B117 variant, following pressure from business and industry.
Frustration with the slow rollout of the vaccine remains high, with newspaper Tagesspiegel reporting that 100,000 doses of the AstraZeneca jab remain in storage in Berlin after people failed to take up their appointments.
As of Thursday, Germany has vaccinated 9.8% of its population. On Thursday morning, Merkel defended her government’s decision to procure coronavirus vaccines jointly with other EU member states, Reuters reports.
Speaking to German lawmakers ahead of the EU summit, Merkel said:
Despite all the complaints, it was right to rely on the joint procurement and approval of vaccines by the European Union,” she told German lawmakers ahead of an EU summit.
Now that we see even small differences in the distribution of vaccines cause big discussions, I would not like to imagine if some member states had vaccines and others did not. That would shake the internal market to its core
Updated
Denmark will extend its suspension of the AstraZeneca vaccine for a further three weeks, Reuters reports.
Poland’s health minister has said that new coronavirus restrictions will be imposed on Saturday, and expected to last for two weeks, until 9 April.
They include:
- Limits to the number of people in churches
- The closure of DIY and furniture shops, and stricter limits of people in shops and post offices.
- Nurseries to be closed.
- The closure of salons and hairdressers.
- The closure of sports centres except for professional athletes.
Hungary may approve a plan to reopen schools next week, the prime minister’s chief of staff has said.
Reuters reports:
Hungary may approve a reopening plan next week, with schools opening on April 12 or 19 at the earliest and with the dates depending on the pace of vaccinations, Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s chief of staff said on Thursday.
Gergely Gulyas also told a government briefing that based on the worsening coronavirus infections data, there was no room for loosening other lockdown measures for the time being.
Hungary again reported a record high daily tally of 272 COVID-19 deaths on Thursday.
Jessica Elgot reports that the Matt Hancock, the UK’s health secretary, has said that vaccinations have saved more than 6,000 lives in the UK by the end of February.
In an interview with the Financial Times, Hancock also claimed the UK had the upper hand in a dispute with the EU over vaccine supply contracts. “They have a ‘best efforts’ contract and we have an exclusivity deal,” he said.
Hancock hinted that the EU’s threats of a potential export ban on vaccinations would help the UK’s bid to become a centre for life sciences research. “You can export anywhere in the world and we’re never going to put a stop to that,” he said.
Poland hits new daily record of new coronavirus cases
Reuters reports that Poland reported a record 34,151 new daily coronavirus cases on Thursday, the highest since the start of the pandemic, as the country grapples with a worsening third wave.
Following the data from the country’s health ministry, the government is expected to announce more restrictions later on Thursday to curb the surging number of infections as hospitals lack enough beds and ventilators to treat COVID-19 patients.
Updated
Israel has fully vaccinated half its population
Israel has administered two doses of the Covid-19 vaccine to more than half its population, the country’s health minister has said, Reuters reports.
The health minister, Yuli Edelstein, said that 50.07% of the overall population had received both vaccine doses, and 55.96% the first dose.
Israel issues the fully vaccinated, and the around 8.7% of its population who have recovered from COVID-19 with presumed immunity, so-called “Green Pass” certificates which allows access to various leisure venues.
Israel began easing a nationwide lockdown in late February. Most businesses and schools, as well as airports, have gradually resumed activity - with caps on capacity.
The country has seen an 85% drop in daily deaths, a 72% decrease in the critically ill and 86% fewer daily coronavirus cases since the pandemic’s third peak in mid-January.
Israel has come under international criticism for not doing more to enable Palestinian vaccination. It says Palestinians are responsible for such health measures in their self-rule areas.
A poll by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research found that 55% of Palestinians are willing to take the vaccine when it becomes available or have already received it, while 43% are unwilling to take it.
Jeremy Farrar, the director of the Wellcome Trust, the UK-based global public health body that has been influential in responding to the coronavirus pandemic, has said the biggest coronavirus risk to the UK now comes from overseas.
Speaking on the Today programme on BBC Radio 4 on Thursday morning, Farrar said he thought that with Europe now on the verge of a third wave of pandemic the government needed to be cautious about the potential for the importation of new variants of the Sars-CoV-2 virus from overseas.
He called on politicians to use “statecraft and real diplomacy” to overcome disputes over vaccine distribution to ensure the widest possible vaccine coverage globally, as the best way to ensure the UK was protected.
Farrar told Radio 4:
The biggest risk at the moment for the UK is outside the UK’s borders, actually. The epidemic is halving every 20 or 30 days in the UK, it’s coming down very quickly and the test trace and isolate system is now functional in the UK ... So the biggest risk actually is new variants coming from anywhere in the world coming into the UK in the coming months.
Over the last three months the UK has been effectively a net exporter of new variants, the B117 variant that was first described in the UK, but there are many other variants around the world – one originally described in South Africa, one originally described in Brazil. The biggest risk to the epidemic in the UK now would be importation from abroad and we will have to think very hard about summer holidays and travel in the summer.
The German chancellor Angela Merkel has defended her government’s decision to procure coronavirus vaccines jointly with other EU member states, Reuters reports.
Speaking to German lawmakers ahead of the EU summit, Merkel said:
Despite all the complaints, it was right to rely on the joint procurement and approval of vaccines by the European Union,” she told German lawmakers ahead of an EU summit.
Now that we see even small differences in the distribution of vaccines cause big discussions, I would not like to imagine if some member states had vaccines and others did not. That would shake the internal market to its core
Russia has said that their Chumakov Center has began the third phase trial of the third Russian Covid-19 vaccine.
Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine trials results published in February said the vaccine offers approximately 92% protection against Covid-19, and has been granted approval for use.
Updated
Russia has reported a further 9,221 new coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours, bringing the national tally to 4,492,692.
Another 393 deaths was also reported, bringing the official death toll to 96,612.
Philippines hits a record high of new coronavirus infections
The Philippine health ministry has reported 8,773 new coronavirus cases, the highest increase in one day.
The ministry added that the total amount of cases now stands at 693,048, while a further 56 deaths brought the death toll to 13,095.
In Denmark, one in three people would refuse an AstraZeneca vaccination shot according to a survey, Reuters reports.
The survey among 1053 persons, showed 33% of Danes would decline to get a shot with AstraZeneca’s vaccine. However, only 7% would decline regardless of which COVID-19 vaccine, they were offered. The survey also revealed that more women than men would say no to the vaccine.
Around 150,000 people had already received AstraZeneca’s shot in Denmark before it was suspended earlier in March. Authorities are expected to announce whether to resume using the vaccine or continue the suspension later on Thursday.
Two weeks ago, Denmark was among the first countries in Europe to temporarily suspend the use of AstraZeneca’s vaccine due to a small number of reported cases of rare brain blood clots registered.
Dominique Le Guludec, the head of France’s health regulator, told France Info Radio that the efficiency of the AstraZeneca vaccine remains trustworthy, Reuters reports.
The comments follows AstraZeneca announcing that the vaccine was 76% effective at preventing symptomatic illness, citing new analysis from its US trial.
The government’s failure to get a grip on England’s social care crisis left the care system weakened when the pandemic struck and has left thousands of people unable to access the help they need, according to the public spending watchdog.
The National Audit Office (NAO) said Covid-19 had focused attention on social care in England “as never before”, highlighting pre-existing shortcomings in services as well as major gaps in the government’s understanding and oversight of the care system.
It urged the government to prioritise the setting out of a properly funded plan that would enable the provision of high-quality, sustainable social care for rapidly increasing numbers of vulnerable adults over the next few years.
Bill Gates has said in an interview with the Polish newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza that the world should be back to normal by the end of 2022 due to coronavirus vaccines.
Reuters reports:
This is an incredible tragedy,” the Microsoft co-founder said on the pandemic, adding that the only good news was the access to vaccines. “By the end of 2022 we should be basically completely back to normal,” Gates said.
Gates, a billionaire who stepped down as chairman of Microsoft Corp in 2014, has through his philanthropic Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation committed at least $1.75 billion to the global response to the COVID-19 pandemic. That includes support for some makers of vaccines, diagnostics and potential treatments.
Good morning, I’m Tobi Thomas taking over from my colleague Helen Sullivan. If you would like to get in touch with tips for the blog please do: @tobithomas_
Thank you in advance!
That’s it from me, Helen Sullivan, for today. Thanks for following along.
I’m off to listen to the band Haim:
Gonna tell my kids this was Haim pic.twitter.com/CA7GN4vHhU
— Helen Sullivan (@helenrsullivan) March 23, 2021
A majority of menstruating women have experienced changes to their cycle over the last year, surveys suggest. One of the main culprits? Persistent stress:
Summary
Here are the key developments from the last few hours:
- EU leaders to hold virtual summit starting today. A European Union summit is due to begin tomorrow and continue on Friday will be held via video conference due to the increase in coronavirus infections across Europe.The EU’s 27 leaders are due to discuss the vaccine export ban, how to speed up vaccinations across the bloc, as well as industrial policy and relations with Turkey and Russia, according to a draft final summit statement seen by Reuters.
- US cases top 30 million as states race to vaccinate. The United States crossed 30 million coronavirus cases on Wednesday, according to a Reuters tally, as states accelerate the vaccination process by lowering age limits.
- New coronavirus variant, described as ‘double mutant’, reported in India. India has reported a new variant of the coronavirus as it struggled with the highest single-day tally of new infections and deaths this year.The variant, described by officials as a “double mutant”, has been found in more than 200 samples in the hardest-hit western state of Maharashtra, which is home to India’s financial capital of Mumbai.
- AstraZeneca publishes full vaccine trial results. AstraZeneca has published its most up-to-date vaccine results, saying the vaccine is 76% effective at preventing symptomatic illness, citing a new analysis of results for its major US trial.Earlier this week, AstraZeneca released more data to support its vaccine efficacy. The interim results from the phase 3 clinical trial of more than 32,000 people found the vaccine was 79% effective against symptomatic disease, and 100% effective against severe disease and death.
- Canada says AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine safe but adds blood clot warning. Canada’s health department on Wednesday continues to back AstraZeneca Plc’s Covid-19 vaccine even as it updated its label to provide information on rare blood clots associated with a low platelet count following an immunisation shot.
- Tokyo Olympic torch relay begins as sign of hope in Japan amid Covid curbs. The official countdown to the postponed Tokyo 2020 Games has begun as the first group of runners carried the Olympic torch through Fukushima, in the first test of measures that organisers insist will ensure a “safe and secure” event in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.
- Education inequalities exposed by Covid have no quick fix – survey. Educational inequalities and deprivation have “mushroomed” during the pandemic to such an extent that children in England need long-term aid rather than “quick” initiatives, according to a wide-reaching survey of school and council leaders.
- UK could add France to ‘red list’ over variants, says Johnson. Britain could shortly place France on a travel “red list” and tighten Channel border controls due to the risk of new coronavirus variants, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Wednesday.
- India records highest daily cases in five months. India added 53,476 Covid infections overnight, the highest daily rise since 23 Octover, the health ministry data showed on Thursday. India has 11.8 million cases, the third-highest amount behind the United States and Brazil. The country reported 251 new deaths, taking the overall tally to 160,692, the data showed.
EU leaders to hold virtual summit starting today
A European Union summit is due to begin on Thursday and continue on Friday will be held via video conference due to the increase in coronavirus infections across Europe.
The EU’s 27 leaders are due to discuss the vaccine export ban, how to speed up vaccinations across the bloc, as well as industrial policy and relations with Turkey and Russia, according to a draft final summit statement seen by Reuters.
A third wave of Covid infections is increasing daily infections due to highly contagious coronavirus variants that are forcing governments to restrict lives again, with Paris going into a four-week lockdown late last week.
Diplomats and officials say virtual meetings limit discussions and decision-making, but that no critical negotiations were expected at the summit.
Updated
The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany increased by 22,657 to 2,713,180, data from the Robert Koch Institute for infectious diseases showed on Thursday.
The reported death toll rose by 228 to 75,440, the tally showed.
India records highest daily cases in five months
India added 53,476 Covid infections overnight, the highest daily rise since 23 Octover, the health ministry data showed on Thursday.
India has 11.8 million cases, the third-highest amount behind the United States and Brazil.
The country reported 251 new deaths, taking the overall tally to 160,692, the data showed.
Updated
The Olympic torch relay to the delayed Tokyo 2020 Games began its 120-day journey across Japan following a low-key ceremony at a football training complex in Fukushima.
The ceremony was closed to the public as Japan maintains strict restrictions around the Covid-19 pandemic. Azusa Iwashimizu, a member of the Japanese team that won the women’s World Cup in 2011 was the first torchbearer, running through sparsely populated local streets.
Large crowds have been discouraged from gathering, and the few who did attend were asked to wear masks, socially distance and refrain from cheering or shouting:
UK could add France to 'red list' over variants, says Johnson
Britain could shortly place France on a travel “red list” and tighten Channel border controls due to the risk of new coronavirus variants, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Wednesday.
AFP: France is struggling with a third wave of cases and on Wednesday expanded virus lockdowns to three more areas including the city of Lyon.
The prevalence in France of cases of South African and Brazilian variants, which are potentially more transmissible, has caused particular concern.
Asked by senior MPs why France was not on Britain’s travel “red list”, Johnson said that this was “something we will have to look at” while warning it would cause disruption, particularly to cross-Channel trade.
Travellers from red list countries cannot enter the UK unless they are British or Irish nationals or have residence rights, in which case they have to pay to quarantine in hotels.
Johnson acknowledged that “we have to look at the situation at the Channel”.
“We can’t rule out tougher measures and we will put them in if necessary,” he said.
Questioned on the need for tighter controls such as testing of lorry drivers arriving at Channel ports, Johnson told senior MPs that there was a need to balance the risks of “very serious disruption” to the flow of goods such as food and medicine.
Hauliers are currently exempt from quarantining and testing measures, Johnson said, warning of delayed supplies if this changed.
When France introduced compulsory testing of lorry drivers arriving from the UK in December, it caused huge queues of lorries in southern England.
“We will take a decision, no matter how tough, to interrupt that trade, to interrupt those flows, if we think that it is necessary to protect public health and to stop new variants coming in,” Johnson said, however.
“It may be that we have to do that very soon.”
England’s chief medical officer Chris Whitty and his deputy Jonathan Van-Tam have reportedly put pressure on Johnson to bring in stricter border controls.
Education inequalities exposed by Covid have no quick fix – survey
Educational inequalities and deprivation have “mushroomed” during the pandemic to such an extent that children in England need long-term aid rather than “quick” initiatives, according to a wide-reaching survey of school and council leaders.
The Local Government Association poll of eight local authorities found schools and councils gravely concerned at the scale of the learning gaps that have appeared, particularly among children with special needs and disabilities, and reports significant pressures on staff and budgets.
The report also found cases where councils and schools have been working more closely than in recent years, reversing the separation between the two following the spread of the self-governing academies that have replaced maintained schools since 2010:
Tokyo Olympic torch relay begins as sign of hope in Japan amid Covid curbs
The official countdown to the postponed Tokyo 2020 Games has begun as the first group of runners carried the Olympic torch through Fukushima, in the first test of measures that organisers insist will ensure a “safe and secure” event in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.
After a brief opening ceremony (which was closed to the public) on a football pitch inside the J-Village training complex, members of the Japan women’s football team began the torch’s 120-day journey through 859 locations, culminating in the opening ceremony at the Olympic stadium on 23 July.
Seiko Hashimoto, the head of the Games’ organising committee, said the start of the Olympic flame’s journey was a sign of hope. “For the past year, as the entire world went through a difficult period, the Olympic flame was kept alive quietly but powerfully,” she said at the opening ceremony, which was attended by a small number of dignitaries:
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Podcast: Europe’s third wave of Covid
As a deadly third wave of Covid infections sweeps across the continent, Jon Henley reports on how EU leaders are considering restricting exports of vaccines in a move that could inflame tensions with the UK:
Canada says AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine safe but adds blood clot warning
Canada’s health department on Wednesday continues to back AstraZeneca Plc’s Covid-19 vaccine even as it updated its label to provide information on rare blood clots associated with a low platelet count following an immunisation shot.
Reuters: Health Canada said it has not received any reports of these blood clots to date.
Canada, which is using AstraZeneca doses manufactured at the Serum Institute of India, has received 500,000 Covidshield doses and expects to get 1.5 million more by May.
The warning label informs people to seek immediate medical attention if they develop shortness of breath, chest pain, leg swelling, or persistent abdominal pain following AstraZeneca shots.
“Also, seek immediate medical attention if you experience after a few days severe or persistent headaches or blurred vision, or experience skin bruising or pinpoint round spots beyond the site of vaccination that appears after a few days,” the label added.
However, the health department said it had assessed the available data and has determined that the vaccine has not been associated with an increase in the overall risk of thrombosis.
“Health Canada continues to be in regular contact with international regulators and the manufacturer of the AstraZeneca vaccine to review all evidence as it becomes available,” the department said in its statement.
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More now on the extra data provided by AstraZeneca about its Covid vaccine, which shows its overall efficacy against symptomatic disease is 76%. Some people might remember that the interim results the drug company released earlier in the week had the efficacy at 79%.
But this difference is not statistically significant. The newer, 76% figure has a confidence interval of between 68% to 82%. This means there is a 95% chance that the true efficacy of the vaccine is between 68% to 82%, making it similar to other vaccines including Pfizer’s. As more data is added, the confidence interval usually tightens and provides more certainty.
A professor of epidemiology with La Trobe University in Australia, Hassan Vally, said the difference between 76% and 79% was not significant.
“In the scheme of things it’s not changing anything when you take into consideration the confidence intervals,” Vally said. He said AstraZeneca was correct in saying the additional data confirmed their earlier results.
AstraZeneca publishes full vaccine trial results
AstraZeneca has published its most up-to-date vaccine results, saying the vaccine is 76% effective at preventing symptomatic illness, citing a new analysis of results for its major US trial.
Earlier this week, AstraZeneca released more data to support its vaccine efficacy. The interim results from the phase 3 clinical trial of more than 32,000 people found the vaccine was 79% effective against symptomatic disease, and 100% effective against severe disease and death.
But soon after the results were published, questions were raised in the US by the independent Data and Safety Monitoring Board, which said AstraZeneca may have provided “outdated information” from the trial, which gave “an incomplete view” of the results.
In response, AstraZeneca has just released the additional data which confirm the efficacy results reported earlier this week. This has now been presented to the independent Data Safety Monitoring Board. An additional 49 cases have now been added to the previously announced interim analysis.
AstraZeneca said:
The primary endpoint, vaccine efficacy at preventing symptomatic Covid-19, was 76%, occurring 15 days or more after receiving two doses given four weeks apart. In addition, results were comparable across age groups, with vaccine efficacy of 85% in adults 65 years and older. A key secondary endpoint, preventing severe or critical disease and hospitalisation, demonstrated 100% efficacy.
The vaccine was well tolerated, and no safety concerns related to the vaccine were identified.
Mene Pangalos, the executive vice-president of AstraZeneca’s bio pharmaceuticals research and development, said: “The primary analysis is consistent with our previously released interim analysis, and confirms that our Covid-19 vaccine is highly effective in adults, including those aged 65 years and over.”
AstraZeneca will also submit the primary analysis for peer-reviewed publication in the coming weeks.
Associate professor Paul Griffin, who is the director of infectious diseases at Mater Health Services in Queensland, said people should believe in the vaccine and that it is safe and effective.
It is such a shame that a vaccine with so much evidence supporting its safety as well as efficacy continues to be shrouded in controversy.
We heard very positive news almost a week ago that the European Medical Authority’s safety committee concluded that the vaccine was not associated with an increase in the overall risk of blood clots and therefore the benefits of receiving the vaccine continue to outweigh the risk of side effects.
The request for more vaccine data was standard practice in drugs approval processes but had played out very publicly due to the intense focus on Covid and need for transparency, Griffin said, but he said it was important not to overreact when questions are raised.
“As the only Covid-19 vaccine currently able to be manufactured in Australia, and [with] the exciting news that the first four batches have been approved for release, we need to continue to support its use in an evidence-based manner with faith in our regulator the TGA, and not falsely sound the alarm over coincident events with no established link or based on perceived issues with how results are communicated in the press,” he said.
New coronavirus variant, described as 'double mutant', reported in India
India has reported a new variant of the coronavirus as it struggled with the highest single-day tally of new infections and deaths this year.
The variant, described by officials as a “double mutant”, has been found in more than 200 samples in the hardest-hit western state of Maharashtra, which is home to India’s financial capital of Mumbai.
Health officials said the new variant had not been detected in large enough numbers to link it to the surge in cases in Maharashtra and other states including Kerala and Punjab.
Epidemiologists said the term “double mutant” refers to a new variant that has the characteristics of two already identified variants:
AstraZeneca to publish full vaccine trial results
AstraZeneca Plc is likely to release a new, modified statement about its Covid vaccine after a data and safety monitoring board expressed concern that the data in its recent public statement were outdated, U.S. infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci said on Wednesday.
Reuters: AstraZeneca said results it published on Monday in which the vaccine had demonstrated 79% efficacy were based on an interim analysis of data through 17 February, and it would now *immediately engage* with the independent panel monitoring the trial to share its full analysis.
AstraZeneca will publish up-to-date results from its major US Covid vaccine trial within 48 hours. It said on Tuesday it had reviewed the preliminary assessment of its full analysis and found it to be consistent with the interim report.
Fauci said he was concerned about miscommunication around Covid vaccine efficacy but was confident a revised statement from AstraZeneca would dispel any confusion about that shot’s effectiveness.
Fauci and Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, both expressed concern about the trajectory of the pandemic during a briefing with reporters, despite a vaccination program that has led to 84 million people in the United States getting one dose of a Covid vaccine.
“We do have a lot of challenges in front of us with regard to the high level of daily infections yesterday being 54,974,” Fauci said. “When you are at that level, I don’t think you can declare victory.”
White House Covid adviser Andy Slavitt said the administration was concerned about the new variant in Brazil and it was having daily discussions with officials in that country.
US cases top 30 million as states race to vaccinate
The United States crossed 30 million coronavirus cases on Wednesday, according to a Reuters tally, as states accelerate the vaccination process by lowering age limits, Reuters reports.
Health authorities are racing to vaccinate in the face of the first uptick in new cases on a weekly basis since January. Against the advice of health experts, several states have lifted mask mandates and more infectious variants have also spread across the nation.
Vaccines prove highly protective of healthcare workers; rapid tests unreliable in asymptomatic cases. 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, the illness caused by the virus. Vaccines highly protective for healthcare workers.
Summary
Hello and welcome to today’s live coverage of the coronavirus pandemic with me, Helen Sullivan.
AstraZeneca Plc is likely to release a new, modified statement about its Covid vaccine after a data and safety monitoring board expressed concern that the data in its recent public statement were outdated, US infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci said on Wednesday.
The United States crossed 30 million coronavirus cases on Wednesday, according to Johns Hopkins University, as states accelerate the vaccination process by lowering age limits. Health authorities are racing to vaccinate in the face of the first uptick in new cases on a weekly basis since January. Against the advice of health experts, several states have lifted mask mandates and more infectious variants have also spread across the nation.
Here are the key developments from the last few hours:
- India has temporarily suspended exports of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine produced by the Serum Institute of India (SII) to meet domestic demand as cases rise, two sources have told Reuters.
- AstraZeneca has dismissed as “inaccurate” a report in the Italian press that 29m doses of its Covid-19 vaccine found in factory near Rome were destined for the UK. The manufacturer said no exports were currently planned other than to developing countries via the Covax facility.
- The European commission will extend the bloc’s powers to potentially halt vaccine exports to the UK and other areas with much higher inoculation rates.
- Ukraine has reported a record daily number of Covid-related deaths for the second consecutive day, as well as its highest daily number of hospitalisations
- Spain has restarted its AstraZeneca vaccination drive after a week-long suspension of the jab over fears about potential side-effects.
- Finland is to resume use of the Oxford/AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine from Monday, but will only give it to people aged 65 and over
- Belgium will impose fresh lockdown restrictions, shutting schools, hairdressers and non-essential stores.
- Iceland has tightened Covid-19 measures following a spike in the number of new cases recorded in the country.
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Coronavirus lockdowns are to be imposed in three more regions in France, including the city of Lyon, the country’s government has said.
- Turkey registered its highest daily number of new infections this year on Wednesday, adding 29,762 infections to its tally in the last 24 hours.
- Luxembourg has announced a partial reopening of its hospitality industry, with cafés and restaurants able to serve customers again in outdoor areas from 7 April.
