"COVID-19 Lockdown Exit Analysis" 29th Mar 2021
Overnight News Roundup
How will people act after getting vaccinated? The complex psychology of safety?
- People will be struggling with questions about safety having just been vaccinated, wondering whether to change behaviours and interactions, and how to understand just how protected they are and the others people they encounter are - or aren't.
- In the coming weeks millions of people will confront myriad nuanced and complex individual choices - which gatherings to attend, with whom, and how certain people need to be that we are indeed safe from spreading or receiving the virus. But the problem is, humans are not very good at gauging risks.
- Vaccines are essential for stopping COVID-19, but they reduce not wholly eliminate the odds of being infected with the virus. Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are about 85% effective. Those are high numbers, but no guarantees of safety. For every 20 people who received a Pfizer or Moderna shot, one could still become COVID-19 and become seriously ill.
- COVID-19 and other viruses mutate, sometimes rapidly. As billions of cells in millions of humans replicate the virus, its genetic material constantly changes, perhaps in ways that potentially circumvent our defences and vaccines.
- Scientists also aren't sure how long vaccine protection lasts yet, and whether vaccinated individuals can get infected and spread COVID-19, even if they themselves don't get sick.
- Public health officials have long recognised such complex realities about harm and safety. To address them, they've pursued harm reduction strategies. Neurocognitively people assess risks using fast thinking, or gut feelings. This means we don't see dichotomies of safety in terms of shades of grey but in black and white - which is what is needed here.
- In the months ahead many people will face complex decisions with no easy answers. Though desires to feel safe against COVID-19 run deep, people need to accept, adapt and alter behavious to far more complex realities, like how comfortable they are that everyone at a dinner party or a bar will be fully vaccinated.
- Health authorities need to urgently work to enhance public understanding of these issues through appropriate public health messaging campaigns. These messages need to convey the complexities of risk: the fact that being vaccinated is not a 100% guarantee of safety.
- We need to remain careful. Research suggests that until the vast majority of people get vaccinated AND wear masks and social distance when they should, COVID-19 will remain around us in schools, stores and elsewhere.
How will people act after getting vaccinated? The complex psychology of safety?
How will people act after getting vaccinated? The complex psychology of safety
In early March, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released guidelines stating that fully vaccinated people can visit each other or members of a single unvaccinated household indoors without wearing masks or physically distancing themselves. These clarifications, along with the fact that millions of Americans are now getting shots, are welcome news. But how will Americans respond? In the next weeks and months, millions of people will confront myriad nuanced and complex individual choices — which gatherings to attend, with whom, and how certain we need to be that we are indeed safe from spreading or receiving the virus. The problem is that humans aren’t good at gauging risks.
Volatility of vaccine confidence
How can vaccine hesitancy be addressed? Communication about vaccines must be delivered in an empathic manner to avoid stigmatizing those who question inoculation. This requires leveraging established relationships to address concerns of the vaccine hesitant. Examples include the Engaging in Medical Education with Sensitivity initiative during the 2019 measles outbreaks, in which Orthodox Jewish nurses empowered parents in that community to reach their own conclusions about vaccines while listening to their concerns and helping them contextualize information. Also, the University of Maryland's Health Advocates In-Reach and Research network of Black barbershops and salons trains personnel as health educators to encourage customers to pursue healthy behaviors.
COVID-19: Vaccinated people should be able to meet up and go on holidays, says scientist
A scientist has called for vaccinated people to be allowed to meet up with each other and to travel freely, saying there is no scientific reason why this should be forbidden. Professor Tim Spector, who leads the COVID Symptom Tracker app study run by King's College London, said the vaccination programme was successful and now people's mental health needs to be considered. He told the PA news agency: "I think we're actually in a much better place than many people are telling us, and I, for one, I'm not worried too much about what's happening abroad.
Covid-19: Several Vaccine Production Sites Approved in E.U.
Covid-19: Several Vaccine Production Sites Approved in E.U.
The European Union’s stumbling Covid-19 vaccination drive, badly shaken by the recent AstraZeneca safety scare, got a boost Friday from the European Medicines Agency, which approved new AstraZeneca, Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccine production sites. The agency, an arm of the European Union and Europe’s top drug regulator, approved sites in the Netherlands, Germany and Switzerland. It also loosened regulations for how long the Pfizer vaccine must be stored at ultralow temperatures. The moves could speed up the Continent’s lagging vaccine production and distribution, which have been plagued by delays and setbacks.
BioNTech nabs EU approval for former Novartis plant tapped in COVID-19 vaccine production push
On a quest to turn out 2 billion doses of their COVID-19 vaccine Comirnaty this year, Pfizer and BioNTech just scored a major boost thanks to the European approval of a linchpin manufacturing plant in Germany. BioNTech won a thumbs up from the European Medicines Agency (EMA) to start making and supplying partners with vaccine drug product from the Marburg, Germany facility it picked up from Novartis last fall. The regulator this week cleared BioNTech to manufacture messenger RNA—the vaccine's active ingredient—there, making it one of the largest mRNA production sites globally, BioNTech said in a release. Once fully operational, the site is expected to hit annual capacity of up to 1 billion vaccine doses per year, the company said. That's 250 million doses more than BioNTech said the site would be able to turn out last month. The company hopes to produce 250 million doses there in the first half of the year, and the first Marburg-made shots are expected to roll out in the second half of April.
EMA’s CHMP at last backs approving COVID-19 vaccines production plants
EMA’s CHMP at last backs approving COVID-19 vaccines production plants
India tells overseas vaccine buyers it has to prioritise local needs
India tells overseas vaccine buyers it has to prioritise local needs
India, the world’s biggest vaccine maker, said on Friday it would make domestic COVID-19 inoculations a priority as infections surge and had told international buyers of its decision. Reports that India will delay deliveries of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine to a global programme to inoculate poorer countries triggered alarm on Thursday, with the head of Africa’s disease control agency describing the continent as “helpless”. India has exported 60.5 million doses, more than the number of inoculations conducted at home, and says there is no outright ban on exports.
India bans Covid-19 vaccine exports to put itself first
India has imposed a de facto ban on vaccine exports as it puts its own needs first. The country is in the grip of a second wave of Covid-19, which is worsening rapidly.
The Serum Institute of India (SII), the largest maker of vaccines in the world, has been told to halt exports until it can cover what India needs, according to sources in the Indian health ministry and Unicef.
Joint jab for Covid-19 and flu could be ready next year, says top vaccine developer
Joint jab for Covid-19 and flu could be ready next year, says top vaccine developer
Scientists at Imperial College London have demonstrated ‘proof of principle’ and hope to begin developing the joint vaccine later this year. A joint jab for Covid-19 and flu could be ready for use by the end of next year, according to one of Britain’s leading vaccine developers. Professor Robin Shattock, of Imperial College London, said the combination jab “is in our sights” after successfully combining three existing vaccines into one shot using the RNA technology he is developing. Tests of the three-in-one vaccine shot he created for Ebola, Marburg and Lassa fever produced the “same type of immune response” in mice as if they had been administered separately, he said.
Can one vaccine ward off all coronavirus? Researchers are about to find out
Variants of the virus that causes COVID-19 are emerging and becoming dominant around the world. So some vaccines are being updated to allow our immune system to learn how to deal with them. But this process of identifying and characterising variants that can escape our immune system, then tweaking a vaccine to deal with them, can take time. So researchers are designing a universal coronavirus vaccine. This could mean one vaccine to protect against different variants of SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19. Alternatively, a universal vaccine would target many different coronaviruses, perhaps one waiting in the wings to cause the next pandemic. Here's where the science is up to and the challenges ahead.
Covid-19: Pfizer director says science 'winning the race' against virus
Science is winning the race between coronavirus and the vaccine, Pfizer's UK medical director has said. Dr Berkeley Phillips told BBC News NI it was important people were "allowed to start living again". While the main threat continues to come from new variants, Pfizer is already designing an updated vaccine that will work, he said. Dr Phillips said "incredible progress" had been made in the past year and "we're winning that race". "If you look at what's happening in the UK there are dramatic reductions in the death rate, dramatic reductions in hospitalisations and in the number of cases," he said.
India bans Covid-19 vaccine exports to put itself first
India has imposed a de facto ban on vaccine exports as it puts its own needs first. The country is in the grip of a second wave of Covid-19, which is worsening rapidly.
The Serum Institute of India (SII), the largest maker of vaccines in the world, has been told to halt exports until it can cover what India needs, according to sources in the Indian health ministry and Unicef.
The Interview - Top Israeli health official on Covid-19: 'I support giving vaccines to our neighbours'
The Interview - Top Israeli health official on Covid-19: 'I support giving vaccines to our neighbours'
In an interview with FRANCE 24, Israel's head of public health services Dr. Sharon Alroy-Preis analysed the successful Covid-19 vaccination campaign by the Israeli government, with 80 percent of the eligible population already vaccinated against Covid-19. "You can get to a point in this pandemic where you open sectors and the disease goes down," she told us. On the vaccination of the Palestinians, Alroy-Preis said the arrangements with the pharma companies state that "we cannot take the vaccines out of Israel" but insisted she supported "giving vaccines to our neighbours."
Coronavirus: UK ‘set to offer 3.7m vaccines to Ireland’ amid EU exports row
The UK is planning to offer 3.7 million Covid-19 vaccines to the Republic of Ireland in a move that could exacerbate its rift with the EU, it has been reported. Foreign secretary Dominic Raab, chancellor of the duchy of Lancaster Michael Gove, and Northern Ireland secretary Brandon Lewis are said to have met privately to discuss the plan, which they see as integral to ensuring lockdown restrictions can be lifted in neighbouring Northern Ireland with the reduced risk of border crossings triggering a third wave of infections, according to The Sunday Times.
Arlene Foster: UK should share surplus Covid-19 vaccines with Ireland
First Minister Arlene Foster has said she believes the UK government will offer Covid-19 vaccine stocks to Ireland once its own vaccination programme is complete. Her comments come as The Sunday Times reports that the UK is planning to offer 3.7 million Covid jabs to Ireland, partly to help lift the lockdown in Northern Ireland. According to the newspaper Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, Chancellor of the duchy of Lancaster Michael Gove and Northern Ireland secretary Brandon Lewis have had “outline discussions” about the plan.
Should US share its COVID-19 vaccine supply with the world? The White House says it will – but not yet.
Global leaders and residents of other countries voice increasing criticism of the United States and other wealthy nations for buying up most of the world's supply of COVID-19 vaccines. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director general of the World Health ...
Hong Kong and Macao suspend BioNTech coronavirus vaccine rollout due to packaging defect
Hong Kong and Macao suspend BioNTech coronavirus vaccine rollout due to packaging defect
Authorities in Hong Kong and Macao have suspended the rollout of BioNTech's Covid-19 vaccine citing a packaging defect found in their first batch of doses. Both governments said in statements Wednesday they had received a letter from BioNTech and its Chinese partner, Fosun Pharma, indicating an issue with the seal on individual vials in batch number 210102. According to government figures, as of Tuesday, 150,200 people in Hong Kong had received their first dose of the BioNTech vaccine, which outside of China is partnered with US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer.
Macron backs EU vaccine export controls, sees more French restrictions
Macron backs EU vaccine export controls, sees more French restrictions
French President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday he supported stricter EU export controls on vaccines for drug companies that do not meet their contractual commitments with the European Union. “It’s the end of naivety,” Macron told reporters after a virtual EU summit. “I support export control mechanisms put in place by the European Commission. I support the fact that we must block all exports for as long as some drug companies don’t respect their commitments with Europeans,” he added. Macron said the EU had been late in ramping up vaccine production and inoculations, but was catching up and would become the world’s biggest producer of vaccines this summer.
Coronavirus: France accuses UK of 'blackmail' over vaccine exports
France has accused the UK of "blackmail" over its handling of coronavirus vaccine exports, amid continuing tensions over supply chains. Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian was asked whether the EU had been "scammed" by sending millions of doses to the UK while its own rollout stuttered. "We need to build a co-operative relationship," he told France Info radio. "But we cannot deal this way." France has called for the EU to implement tougher export controls. Vaccine rollouts have started sluggishly across the bloc, and the EU has blamed pharmaceutical companies - primarily AstraZeneca - for not delivering its promised doses. AstraZeneca has denied that it is failing to honour its contract.
French foreign minister claims Britain will struggle to deliver second coronavirus vaccine doses
Britain will struggle to source second Covid-19 jabs for those who have already had their first dose because of supply shortages, France’s foreign minister has claimed
Cases of COVID-19 rising
Kenya’s president Uhuru Kenyatta orders new lockdown to battle COVID-19 infections wave
Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta on Friday announced a halt to all movement in the capital Nairobi and four other counties on Friday as the COVID-19 outbreak reached its worst ever stage in East Africa’s richest economy.
Covid-19 Cases In The U.S. Are Increasing Again
The state dealing with the most significant outbreak at the moment is Michigan, which recorded more than 6,000 new cases Friday for the first time a single day since December, as its rolling 14-day average has spiked by 25%. The tri-state area of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut has also experienced double-digit percentage increases in daily case counts. 1,265 new deaths were reported on Friday, but the 7-day average in the U.S. has fallen below 1,000 for the first time since November.
Covid-19: Massive increase in new cases, as deaths continue to rise
The coronavirus infection rate in Belgium continues to rise, while the number of deaths due to the virus is increasing, according to the latest official figures published by the Sciensano public health institute on Sunday. Between 18 and 24 March, an average of 4,636 new people tested positive per day, which is a 27% increase compared to the week before. The total number of confirmed cases in Belgium since the beginning of the pandemic is 866,063. The total reflects all people in Belgium who have been infected and includes confirmed active cases as well as patients who have since recovered, or died as a result of the virus. Over the past two weeks, 504.9 infections were confirmed per 100,000 inhabitants, which is a 67% increase compared to the two weeks before.
France sees further rise in coronavirus patients in intensive care
The number of patients with coronavirus in French intensive care units rose on Saturday to a new high for this year, increasing the pressure to impose new restrictions that President Emmanuel Macron says will probably be needed. France had 4,791 ICU patients being treated for COVID-19, up from 4,766 on Friday, health ministry data showed. The numbers are approaching a peak recorded in mid-November during the second wave of the virus, although last spring, when France imposed its first lockdown, saw a peak of more than 7,000. Doctors say intensive care units in the worst-hit regions could become overwhelmed.
Hungary PM says no room to ease lockdown measures as coronavirus infections rise
A record rise in coronavirus infections and deaths keeps Hungary from loosening lockdown measures, Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on Friday before his government discussed plans to reopen the economy. Partial reopening may begin after Easter, once a quarter of the population is vaccinated, the government decided, a senior Orban aide said. Hospitals are under “extraordinary” pressure in Hungary, a hot spot as the pandemic hits Central Europe especially hard. Orban, who faces elections in 2022, is balancing the world’s highest daily per-capita coronavirus death rates, according to Johns Hopkins University, with a need to open the economy to avoid a second year of deep recession. “The next 1-2 weeks will be hard,” Orban told state radio.
Philippines’ renewed coronavirus lockdown in Manila likely to sharpen criticism of government’s response to pandemic
The government has been unwilling to acknowledge any shortcomings and has instead sought to blame ‘pandemic fatigue’ and emerging variants of the disease.
Battling vaccine hesitancy
How we can show hesitant Black D.C. residents that coronavirus vaccines are safe and effective
Black Americans are dying at nearly twice the rate of White Americans from the coronavirus. In the nation’s capital, about 75 percent of coronavirus deaths are among Black Americans — despite making up less than half of the population. So, it’s particularly troubling that 44 percent of Black D.C. residents say they won’t get vaccinated. As Black doctors and voices within the health-care community, we have a responsibility to address these views about vaccines. Among Black people who are unsure, the most common two reasons given are worries about side effects and a desire to see how other people respond to the vaccine. These are perfectly reasonable concerns; no one wants to be a guinea pig.
Frustrated EU leaders pass vaccine fight to ambassadors
Suddenly, the EU’s top diplomats — the Committee of Permanent Representatives — look more like the Committee of Pro-Rata Referees. After EU heads of state and government spent hours arguing during a video summit on Thursday about how to divvy up an extra load of 10 million coronavirus vaccine doses, they gave up and asked diplomats to settle the matter. The decision to seek arbitration among the ambassadors came after Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz virtually sabotaged the meeting by insisting that his country receive extra doses, even though European Commission data shows Austria faring relatively well among EU nations in terms of vaccine supplies. There's also the issue that all EU countries, Austria included, had previously agreed to a pro-rata formula that gives each member state an equal chance to purchase their fair share of shots.
Hong Kong exploring ways to incentivise coronavirus vaccine take-up: pandemic adviser
Chinese University’s David Hui Shu-cheong says even more inoculation facilities may be necessary as city makes up for lost time from BioNTech packaging delay
Financial Secretary Paul Chan, meanwhile, says economy hangs in balance, calling herd immunity a precondition to jump-starting recovery
Expanding vaccination eligibility
More than 30 states expanding COVID-19 vaccine eligibility
With national vaccinations ramping up to more than 2.5 million people per day, at least 34 states have made all adults eligible to receive one of three approved COVID-19 vaccines—or plan to by mid-April— as the United States continues to race to vaccinate as many people as possible while variant cases continue to rise. "It's clear, there is a case for optimism; but there is not a case for relaxation," said Jeff Zients, coordinator of the White House's COVID-19 response, today during a White House press briefing. California is the largest state to announce a change in eligibility: On Apr 1 all residents 50 and older will be eligible, and all residents 16 and older will be able to get a vaccine on Apr 15. On Mar 29, Texas will open up its vaccination to all residents.
Foreigners flock to Serbia to get coronavirus vaccine shots
Thousands of vaccine-seekers from countries neighboring Serbia have flocked to Belgrade after Serbian authorities offered free coronavirus jabs to foreigners who showed up over the weekend
Keep Your Covid-19 Vaccination Card Safe — You’re Going To Need It
Keep Your Covid-19 Vaccination Card Safe — You’re Going To Need It
Your most precious travel accessory this summer is going to be a small white piece of paper. Some destinations, cruise lines and major sports venues are already requiring travelers to provide proof that they have been fully vaccinated against Covid-19. Other businesses, like Krispy Kreme, are offering freebies and other perks to people who can prove they’ve been inoculated. If you are among the 48 million Americans who have been fully vaccinated against Covid-19, the only proof that you have received your Covid shots is typically your paper vaccination record card with the CDC logo in the upper corner. The vaccination card tells you what Covid-19 vaccine you received, the date you received it, and where you received it — but that information is not being stored in any centralized, easily searchable database.
France and Spain's lockdown vices
France's lockdown vice? Cheese
French households feasted on cheese last year as they turned to home cooking and sought gastronomic comfort during coronavirus lockdowns that shuttered the restaurant trade. The amount of cheese purchased by French shoppers for at-home consumption increased by more than 8% in 2020, compared with just 2% the previous year, according to figures from farming agency FranceAgriMer and market data firm Kantar. That was part of a shift in food consumption in many countries last year as the COVID-19 pandemic unfolded, with households initially bulk buying staples like pasta and flour, and later settling into home-eating habits with extra purchases of products like butter. In France, mozzarella saw the steepest rise in demand among major cheese categories, with a 21% volume jump, followed by a 12% increase for raclette - a winter favourite eaten melted with potatoes and cured meats.
Spaniards cut back on drink, took more sedatives during pandemic - study
Spaniards cut back on alcohol and almost halved their binge-drinking during the pandemic as the lockdown shuttered bars and nightclubs, a survey by Spain’s Observatory for Drugs and Addiction found on Friday. At the same time, the consumption of unprescribed sedatives increased and internet use jumped, as people spent more of their leisure time browsing, and more youngsters turned to online gambling, the survey showed.