"COVID-19 Lockdown Exit Analysis" 26th Apr 2021
Overnight News RoundUp
The next big COVID-19 bottleneck? A shortage of trained vaccine workers, experts say
At a manufacturing summit featuring experts from BIO, the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers & Associations (IFPMA), the Developing Countries Vaccine Manufacturers' Network (DCVMN) and COVA, plus COVAX, GlaxoSmithKline, Bharat Biotech and Moderna - it became clear that Moderna's Stephane Bancel felt that 'first there were fears of a glass vial shortage, then there were concerns about hold ups on plastic bags used to grow vaccine cells and now there are red flags being raised about another vital pandemic fighting resource - people.'
Moderna blames the manufacturing supply squeeze on limited human and material resources. It says it has struggled to hire enough specialized personnel for its vaccine production push, according to its CEO.
The company's European supply chain depends upon Swiss CDMO Lonza which is struggling to hire the specialized personnel. To fill the employment gap, Lonza is switching workers over from other projects at its Visp, Switzerland plant and rapidly hiring new staffers. The company has also reached out to other pharmas for help.
It isn't unfamiliar territory for the UK big pharma, Glaxo. The company is plugging away on its own pair of vaccine hopefuls with Sanofi and Medicago, but has still lent its manufacturing muscle to boost the production of Novava's shot and CureVac's mRNA-based hopeful.
The Moderna boss wasn't the only executive to flag the people shortage during the manufacturing summit. Alongside material and export bottlenecks, 'we have also seen the importance of the skilled workers you need,' Thomas Cueni, director general of IFPMA, said. Leaders from GlaxoSmithKline, Bharat and Moderna all raised similar concerns about shortages of trained vaccine workers.
According to a recent World Bank report, there should be enogh vaccine doses worldwide to hit herd immunity by March 2022, but manufacturers have warned that the mission's success hinges on the resolution of trade barriers, export restrictions and the material shortages that ensure. Plus, aside from the worker shortage problem, shortfalls of items viewed as 'mundane' like single-use plastic vaccine cell grow bags have become a problem for Indian manufacturers, Rajinder Suri, the chief of DCYVMN said. 'I don't think we have a solution in sight,' he added.
Suri was among several on the panel, along with BIO chief Michelle McMurry-Heath to raise concerns about the U.S.' recent invocation of the Defence Production Act, which has helped local companies shore up materials and equipment but also makes exporting supplies more difficult.
Bharat and SII and even Novavax have drawn attention to the plastic bag shortage in recent weeks, with SII chief Adar Poonwalla pleading with President Joe Biden on Twitter to ease exports coming out of the USA.
The next big COVID-19 bottleneck? A shortage of trained vaccine workers, experts say
The next big COVID-19 bottleneck? A shortage of trained vaccine workers, experts say
COVID-19 has put global manufacturing supply chains through the wringer: First, there were fears of a glass vial shortage; then, concerns cropped up about hold ups on plastic bags used to grow vaccine cells. Now, executives at a suite of COVID-19 heavyweights are raising flags about another pandemic resource in scarcity: people. When Moderna last week revealed that its COVID-19 vaccine deliveries to countries like the U.K. and Canada would come in light, the mRNA player blamed the squeeze on limited “human and material resources." During a Friday summit on the pandemic vaccine scale-up, the biotech's CEO Stéphane Bancel offered some additional context: “The bottleneck right now is people.” While Moderna handles the bulk of its manufacturing work in the U.S., the company's European supply chain depends upon Swiss CDMO Lonza, which has struggled to hire on enough specialized personnel for its vaccine production push, the chief executive said.
Vaccine rollout to be boosted by delivery of 165,000 AstraZeneca doses
Vaccine rollout to be boosted by delivery of 165,000 AstraZeneca doses
Ireland is set to receive a large delivery of 165,000 AstraZeneca vaccines next week that had earlier been postponed until May, in a boost to the State’s vaccination programme which has been beset by delays. The latest change in the supply plan for the AstraZeneca vaccine has been made possible after the European Medicines Agency licensed the manufacture of its vaccine in a plant in Asia. AstraZeneca now expects to hit its European delivery target of 20 million doses this month, and 70 million in the second quarter, with Ireland receiving a pro rata share of about 1 per cent.
AstraZeneca vaccines sent to Mexico from Baltimore plant safe - deputy health minister
AstraZeneca vaccines sent to Mexico from Baltimore plant safe - deputy health minister
Millions of doses of AstraZeneca's (AZN.L) COVID-19 vaccine manufactured at a U.S. plant that had a contamination issue and then shipped to Mexico are safe and have been approved by two regulators, Mexico's deputy health minister said on Friday. The doses were sent to Mexico as part of an agreement with the administration of President Joe Biden for 2.7 million shots of AstraZeneca's vaccine to help supplement Mexico's vaccination campaign amid global delays and shortages. "They were produced in the Baltimore plant," Deputy Health Minister Hugo Lopez Gatell wrote on Twitter. "The product is safe and of quality, it was evaluated by the FDA and (health regulator) COFEPRIS."
COVID-19: 'I'm hoping collaboration can continue across borders' says Novavax vaccine maker
COVID-19: 'I'm hoping collaboration can continue across borders' says Novavax vaccine maker
The British manufacturer of the next coronavirus vaccine likely to be approved for general use in the UK has called on international governments to cooperate to ensure the global rollout is not interrupted by disputes. The UK has ordered 60 million doses of the Novavax vaccine, which was developed in the US but will be produced in part by Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies at its facility in Billingham on Teesside. Production has already begun pending approval by the medicines regulator, and Fujifilm Diosynth's chief executive Martin Meeson told Sky News he was confident they would be able deliver if supply chains are not interrupted.
Brazil cuts number of vaccines expected to be delivered by 30%
Brazil cuts number of vaccines expected to be delivered by 30%
The Brazilian government cut by nearly 30% the number of COVID-19 vaccines expected to be delivered between January and April, according to a new calendar released by the country's health minister on Saturday. Last month, former health minister Eduardo Pazuello said Brazil would receive roughly 103 million doses in the first four months of the year. But the latest calendar released by minister Marcelo Queiroga showed only 73 million doses. The government said the reduction was due to lower-than-expected volume of active ingredients received and also because some vaccines are pending a permit to be used in the country.
EU to shortly sign world's largest vaccine deal with Pfizer
EU to shortly sign world's largest vaccine deal with Pfizer
The European Commission said it expects to seal the world’s biggest vaccine supply deal within days, securing up to 1.8 billion doses of Pfizer’s (PFE.N) COVID-19 vaccine for the next few years as a debate rages over unfair access to shots for the world’s poorest people. The vaccines from the U.S. drugmaker and its German partner BioNTech would be delivered over 2021-2023, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said during a visit to Pfizer's vaccine plant in Puurs, Belgium. The agreement, which is to include 900 million optional doses, would be enough to inoculate the 450 million EU population for two years and comes as the bloc seeks to shore up long-term supplies.
Coronavirus: WHO urges African nations to keep expired vaccines
Coronavirus: WHO urges African nations to keep expired vaccines
The World Health Organization (WHO) has urged African countries not to destroy Covid-19 vaccines that may have passed their expiry date. Countries have been told to keep hold of them and wait for further guidance. The appeal comes after Malawi and South Sudan said they would destroy more than 70,000 doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca jab because they expired in mid-April. But the Africa Centres for Disease Control (Africa CDC) said it had been assured the doses were safe to use. Many vaccines can be used up to 36 months after manufacture, but because Covid-19 jabs are so new there is not enough data to prove their effectiveness over longer periods.
Millions sign petitions urging the U.S. to back a WTO proposal for greater Covid-19 vaccine access
Millions sign petitions urging the U.S. to back a WTO proposal for greater Covid-19 vaccine access
More than two million petitions were sent to the White House in hopes of convincing the Biden administration to support a proposal that would temporarily waive trade agreement provisions in a bid to widen access to Covid-19 vaccines in low and middle-income countries. The effort was promoted by several U.S. lawmakers and dozens of advocacy groups amid ongoing controversy over the proposal, which was introduced last fall at the World Trade Organization. Since then, however, the effort has stalled amid push back by the pharmaceutical industry and some wealthy nations, including the U.S., over concerns that intellectual property rights will be compromised.
From scarcity to abundance: US faces calls to share vaccines
From scarcity to abundance: US faces calls to share vaccines
Victor Guevara knows people his age have been vaccinated against COVID-19 in many countries. His own relatives in Houston have been inoculated. But the 72-year-old Honduran lawyer, like so many others in his country, is still waiting. And increasingly, he is wondering why the United States is not doing more to help, particularly as the American vaccine supply begins to outpace demand and doses that have been approved for use elsewhere in the world, but not in the U.S., sit idle.
“We live in a state of defenselessness on every level,” Guevara said of the situation in his Central American homeland. Honduras has obtained a paltry 59,000 vaccine doses for its 10 million people. Similar gaps in vaccine access are found across Africa, where just 36 million doses have been acquired for the continent’s 1.3 billion people, as well as in parts of Asia.
WHO, Macron denounce vaccine inequity as COVAX scheme marks first year
WHO, Macron denounce vaccine inequity as COVAX scheme marks first year
WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has repeatedly denounced inequities in vaccine distribution and urged wealthier countries to share excess doses to help inoculate health workers in low-income countries. More than 3 million people have died in the pandemic worldwide. "Nearly 900 million vaccine doses have been administered globally, but over 81% have gone to high- or upper middle-income countries, while low-income countries have received just 0.3%," Tedros said about the ACT (Access to COVID-19 Tools) Accelerator set up a year ago. He told a briefing he was concerned about the rising caseload in India.
Lawmakers urge Biden to back 'moral' patent waiver to speed vaccine access
Lawmakers urge Biden to back 'moral' patent waiver to speed vaccine access
U.S. lawmakers and nonprofit groups on Friday heaped pressure on the Biden administration to back a temporary patent waiver for COVID-19 vaccines to help poor countries contain the pandemic. The groups delivered a petition signed by two million people, adding to separate letters already sent to U.S. President Joe Biden by a group of senators, House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, nearly 100 members of the House and 60 former heads of state and 100 Nobel Prize winners. Senator Bernie Sanders said it was also in the United States' own interest to ensure as many people were vaccinated as quickly as possible, to limit the chance of virus mutations that could prompt further U.S. lockdowns. But he also appealed to Biden's desire to rebuild U.S. credibility in the world.
India's COVID-19 Crisis
French oxygen giant diverts supply to India’s slammed hospitals
French gas giant Air Liquide SA is diverting oxygen supplies for industrial clients in India to hospitals as the country is overwhelmed by a surge in Covid-19 patients.
Air Liquide is sending most of its liquid oxygen output to the health-care sector and is looking to import additional supplies from the Middle East, Executive Vice-President Francois Jackow said Friday. Demand for medical oxygen in India has soared roughly 10-fold, or by more than 50% of the country’s total production capacity, he said.
India asks Twitter to take down some tweets critical of its COVID-19 handling
The Indian government asked social media platform Twitter to take down dozens of tweets, including some by local lawmakers, that were critical of India’s handling of the coronavirus outbreak, as cases of COVID-19 again hit a world record.
India virus patients suffocate amid oxygen shortage in surge
Indian authorities scrambled Saturday to get oxygen tanks to hospitals where COVID-19 patients were suffocating amid the world’s worst coronavirus surge, as the government came under increasing criticism for what doctors said was its negligence in the face of a foreseeable public health disaster. For the third day in a row, India set a global daily record of new infections. The 346,786 confirmed cases over the past day brought India’s total to more than 16 million, behind only the United States. The Health Ministry reported another 2,624 deaths in the past 24 hours, pushing India’s COVID-19 fatalities to 189,544. Experts say even those figures are likely an undercount.
India's pandemic hell could be purgatory
India has slender room to act if economic activity follows its medical infrastructure into a virus-induced state of collapse. So far there’s a wide gap between the two measures of health. Optimists hope antibodies and vaccines will cause the Covid-19 contagion to burn out quickly. The government will have a hard time softening the financial pain if it doesn’t. The second wave is proving more virulent than the first; India recorded the world’s highest daily tally of infections at 314,835 on Thursday. Hospitals are running out of oxygen; even fancy private healthcare facilities in Mumbai and New Delhi can’t keep pace. People are turning to makeshift facilities for mass cremations.
Covid-19: India hospital fire as virus cases hit record high
At least 13 patients have died after a fire broke out in the intensive care unit of an Indian hospital treating Covid patients near Mumbai. The blaze, which took place early on Friday, was extinguished and four survivors have been moved to nearby hospitals, said authorities. The incident comes amid a deadly second wave of infections in India. The spike has overwhelmed hospitals, creating a critical shortage of oxygen, intensive care beds and ventilators. On Friday India recorded 332,730 coronavirus cases, the highest one-day tally anywhere in the world for the second day in a row. Daily deaths from Covid-19 rose by a record 2,263 in the previous 24 hours.
Covid-19: Delhi hospitals run out of oxygen supplies
At least two hospitals in the Indian capital of Delhi are running out of oxygen, amid a healthcare crisis gripping several states. A number of people have died while waiting for oxygen supplies, and the majority of intensive care beds in Delhi hospitals are full. India is in the grips of a second wave of Covid infections. It has close to 16 million confirmed infections and registered a record number of cases on Thursday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is due to hold meetings with the chief ministers of affected states and oxygen manufacturers on Friday. In a tweet labelled "SOS" sent out on Friday morning, Max Healthcare said it had been waiting for expected fresh supplies for more than seven hours at two hospitals. It has 700 patients admitted at the two facilities.
COVID-19: Indian doctors forced to beg for oxygen as hospitals buckle under record coronavirus surge
The Indian health system is buckling under the strain of an ever-worsening coronavirus pandemic - with hospitals now being forced to beg for oxygen. The government is putting oxygen tankers on special express trains across the country to help save COVID-19 patients who are struggling to breathe. India, a country of nearly 1.4 billion people, has confirmed 16 million coronavirus cases - second only to the United States.
Hospitals overrun as India's COVID-19 infections top global record for second day
People across India scrambled for life-saving oxygen supplies on Friday and patients lay dying outside hospitals as the capital recorded the equivalent of one death from COVID-19 every five minutes. For the second day running, the country's overnight infection total was higher than ever recorded anywhere in the world since the pandemic began last year, at 332,730. India's second wave has hit with such ferocity that hospitals are running out of oxygen, beds and anti-viral drugs. Many patients have been turned away because there was no space for them, doctors in Delhi said.
Covid-19: India’s response to second wave is warning to other countries
The blindspots in India’s response to its second, devastating wave of coronavirus infections serve as a stark warning to other countries. In retrospect it was clear that the figures for new infections that India was reporting in January and February were probably too good to be true, with a country of more than 1.3 billion people seeing its caseload drop from its first peak last year of over 100,000 cases a day to under 10,000. Then, it was reported in terms of being almost miraculous. As Jishnu Das, a health economist at Georgetown University in the US, told NPR in early February: “It’s not that India is testing less or things are going underreported. It’s been rising, rising – and now suddenly, it’s vanished! I mean, hospital ICU utilisation has gone down. Every indicator says the numbers are down.”
U.S. to deploy support to India govt and healthcare workers
U.S. to deploy support to India govt and healthcare workers
The United States is deeply concerned by a massive surge in coronavirus cases in India and plans to quickly deploy additional support to the Indian government and health care workers, a White House spokeswoman said on Saturday. "We are in active conversations at high levels and plan to quickly deploy additional support to the Government of India and Indian health care workers as they battle this latest severe outbreak. We will have more to share very soon," the spokeswoman told Reuters via email. India is grappling with a record-setting surge in coronavirus infections, with hospitals running out of critical oxygen supplies. The Indian government has deployed military planes and trains to get oxygen to Delhi from other parts of the country and foreign countries, including Singapore.
Japan issues third COVID emergency ahead of Olympics
Japan issues third COVID emergency ahead of Olympics
Japan has declared a third state of emergency for Tokyo and three western prefectures as the country struggles to contain a resurgent coronavirus pandemic just three months before the Olympics. Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga announced the emergency on Friday for Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto and Hyogo from April 25 through May 11.
Cambodia closes markets to curb COVID-19, thousands plead for food
Cambodia closes markets to curb COVID-19, thousands plead for food
Cambodia closed all markets in the capital Phnom Penh on Saturday to contain a surge in coronavirus infections and thousands of families pleaded to the government for food as a two-week lockdown continued. Cambodia also reported a daily record of 10 new coronavirus deaths on Saturday, its health ministry said, as infections spike following an outbreak first detected in late February.
Costa Rica hits new daily record of COVID-19 infections
Costa Rica hits new daily record of COVID-19 infections
Costa Rica on Saturday registered 1,830 new COVID-19 infections, its highest daily increase since the start of the pandemic, with space for the most critical patients at public hospitals nearly full, health authorities said. There have been 238,760 cases and 3,143 deaths from COVID-19 in the Central American country of 5 million people, whose tourism-driven economy has been hit by the pandemic's toll on global travel
COVID-19 killing people too fast for them to get help in time, Ontario coroner reveals
COVID-19 killing people too fast for them to get help in time, Ontario coroner reveals
Dr. Dirk Huyer, coordinator of the provincial outbreak response and Chief Coroner for Ontario, revealed at a press conference on Thursday that approximately two people per day in the past two weeks have been dying from COVID-19 in the community, because their infection progressed too quickly to seek health care. "We have been seeing a number of people dying in the community outside of the hospital, which is new, unfortunate and sad," Dr. Huyer said. "Many of these people are found deceased."
Canada: COVID at ‘critical’ levels, personal contact discouraged
Canada: COVID at ‘critical’ levels, personal contact discouraged
New daily cases of COVID-19 in Canada could almost double to more than 15,000 from 8,600 by the end of April unless stricter measures are taken as new coronavirus variants spread, health officials warned on Friday. The officials told a briefing that if people cut the number of personal contacts by 20-30 percent, the number of cases could drop to about 4,500. “Elevated case counts and severe illness trends remind us we are still in a right race between vaccines and variants and our actions matter,” said Chief Public Health Officer Theresa Tam. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau echoed the call to reduce personal contact, saying the “COVID-19 situation is critical”. Major provinces such as Ontario are struggling to cope with a worsening third wave of COVID-19 and accuse Ottawa of not doing enough to clamp down on the spread of new, more highly transmissible virus variants and also of bungling the procurement of vaccines. Ontario reported more than 4,500 new cases on Friday.
At least 27 dead in fire at Baghdad hospital for COVID patients
At least 27 dead in fire at Baghdad hospital for COVID patients
At least 27 people were killed and 46 injured in a fire on Saturday at a hospital in southeastern Baghdad that had been equipped to house COVID-19 patients, medical sources at three nearby hospitals said. The fire at the Ibn Khatib hospital in the Diyala Bridge area of the Iraqi capital occurred after an accident caused an oxygen tank to explode, the sources said. Many ambulances were rushing towards the hospital, ferrying away those hurt by the fire, a Reuters photographer nearby said.
Oxygen packing plant in Brazil hit by explosion
Oxygen packing plant in Brazil hit by explosion
An industrial plant dedicated to oxygen packing in the city of Fortaleza, in Brazil's northeastern region, exploded on Saturday, leaving four people injured, local media reported. Industrial gas maker White Martins, owner of the plant, said in a statement that production of oxygen in the region has not been affected, as the unit was dedicated to packing the gas. The company, which is investigating the causes for the incident, said it is looking for alternative places to fill the oxygen cylinders.
Brazilians are not showing up for their second COVID vaccination
Brazilians are not showing up for their second COVID vaccination
Brazil’s COVID-19 vaccination programme is being put at risk by people failing to show up for their second shot, with 1.5 million people missing appointments for the follow-up dose needed to maximise protection, according to the Health Ministry.
Specialists say that is particularly concerning after a recent real-world study from Chile found that the Sinovac Biotech COVID-19 vaccine, which has accounted for some 80 percent of Brazil’s program, is just 16 percent effective after one shot.
US drop in vaccine demand has some places turning down doses
US drop in vaccine demand has some places turning down doses
Louisiana has stopped asking the federal government for its full allotment of COVID-19 vaccine. About three-quarters of Kansas counties have turned down new shipments of the vaccine at least once over the past month. And in Mississippi, officials asked the federal government to ship vials in smaller packages so they don’t go to waste. As the supply of coronavirus vaccine doses in the U.S. outpaces demand, some places around the country are finding there’s such little interest in the shots, they need to turn down shipments. “It is kind of stalling. Some people just don’t want it,” said Stacey Hileman, a nurse with the health department in rural Kansas’ Decatur County, where less than a third of the county’s 2,900 residents have received at least one vaccine dose.
The Darker Side of the Pandemic
Brazil’s ‘rapid and violent’ Covid variant devastates Latin America
As a coronavirus variant traced to the Brazilian Amazon marauded through Peru’s coastal capital last month, Rommel Heredia raced to his local hospital to seek help for his brother, mother and father. “I said goodbye and promised I’d come back to take them home,” said the 47-year-old PE teacher, his voice muffled by two black masks pulled tightly over his face. Heredia was unable to fulfil his pledge. Three days later, his 52-year-old brother, Juan Carlos, died as he waited for a bed in intensive care at the Rebagliati public hospital in Lima. The next day he lost his 80-year-old mother, Vilma, who suffered a fatal brain inflammation doctors blamed on Covid-19. Four days later his father, Jorge, passed away.
Europe reopens but virus patients still overwhelm ICU teams
Cradling the head of the deeply sedated COVID-19 patient like a precious jewel in his hands, Dr. Alexy Tran Dinh steered his intensive-care nurses through the delicate process of rolling the woman off her stomach and onto her back, guiding the team like a dance instructor. They moved only on Tran Dinh’s count, in unison and with extreme care, because the unconscious patient could die within minutes should they inadvertently rip the breathing tube from her mouth. “One, two and three — onto the side,” the doctor instructed. His next order quickly followed: “Onto the back.” “Perfect,” he concluded when the move was done.
Boris Johnson 'said he'd rather see bodies pile high in thousands' than do 3rd lockdown
Boris Johnson said he would “rather see bodies piled high in their thousands” than order another Covid lockdown, it was claimed Sunday night. The Prime Minister’s explosive alleged remarks came after he reluctantly accepted a second lockdown last autumn with Britain in the grip of another deadly wave. No 10 last night dismissed the claims as “just another lie”, but they will be deeply damaging for Mr Johnson whose Government is already engulfed in a series of rows.
COVID-19: At least 100 fake coronavirus test certificates are used by UK arrivals every day, it is revealed
Border officials are forced to take travellers' COVID test paperwork at "face value" and just accept results are negative - because they are often written in a foreign language, it has been revealed. Lucy Moreton, professional officer for the Immigration Services Union (ISU), said travellers' documents in anything other than English often simply had to be "taken on trust".
Studies: COVID linked to poor maternal, neonatal outcomes
COVID-19 during pregnancy is tied to dramatically higher rates of maternal death, preeclampsia, preterm birth, and infection and severe outcomes in newborns, according to two new studies. In the first study, published yesterday in JAMA Pediatrics, a team led by University of Oxford researchers studied 2,130 pregnant women age 18 and older and their newborns at 43 institutions in 18 countries from March to October 2020, as part of the observational INTERCOVID Multinational Cohort Study. For each woman who tested positive for COVID-19 before delivery, two unmatched, uninfected women were enrolled at any stage of pregnancy or delivery.
France reports 5962 COVID-19 patients in intensive care units
French health authorities reported that 5,962 people were in intensive care units with COVID-19 on Friday, 19 fewer than a day earlier, but the figure remains at a very high level as the country prepares to exit its third lockdown. The total number of people in hospital with COVID-19 fell for a fourth consecutive day, by 196 to 30,438. France also reported 32,340 new confirmed cases, with the increase of 4.15% compared to last Friday the lowest week-on-week rise since mid-March.
Cyprus heads into another lockdown to curb COVID-19 spike
Cyprus announced a two-week lockdown and brought forward a night-time curfew on Friday to try to reverse a spike in infections of COVID-19. The east Mediterranean island has seen a surge in infections over the last month, putting pressure on its healthcare system. Since March 2020, Cyprus has recorded 59,792 cases of COVID-19, and 296 deaths. A variant of the novel coronavirus first identified in Britain, which is at least 50% more contagious, is thought to be responsible for an increase in cases. It was first identified in samples taken from persons who tested positive with the coronavirus in Cyprus in Dec. 2020.
Japan issues 3rd virus emergency in Tokyo, Osaka area
Japan declared a third state of emergency for Tokyo and three western prefectures on Friday amid skepticism it will be enough to curb a rapid coronavirus resurgence just three months ahead of the Olympics. Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga announced the emergency for Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto and Hyogo from April 25 through May 11. The step is largely intended to be “short and intensive” to stop people from traveling and spreading the virus during Japan’s “Golden Week” holidays from late April through the first week of May, Suga said. “I sincerely apologize for causing trouble for many people again,” said Suga, who earlier had pledged to do his utmost to prevent a third emergency. But he said he is alarmed by the fast=spreading new variant of the virus in the four prefectures and tougher steps are needed.
1bn COVID jabs given globally – but over half in just 3 countries
1bn COVID jabs given globally – but over half in just 3 countries
More than one billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered worldwide, according to a tally, with more than half given in just three countries. At least 1,002,938,540 doses had been administered in 207 countries and territories by 17:45 GMT on Saturday, less than five months after the first mass inoculation programmes began to be rolled out, AFP news agency said, citing figures from official sources. The milestone was reached as a daily record of more than 893,000 coronavirus infections cases were registered worldwide on Saturday, primarily due to an alarming surge of the virus in India. Fifty-eight percent of the vaccine doses have been administered in three countries: the United States with 225.6 million doses; China with 216.1 million doses; and India with 138.4 million.
Vaccine Shipments and Additional Doses
Malaysia receives first batch of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines - Bernama
Malaysia received 268,800 doses of AstraZeneca vaccines on Friday night, its first batch from the pharmaceutical company, state news agency reported on Saturday. Health Minister Adham Baba said the batch was purchased through the COVAX facility. "The COVAX facility sent the vaccine from South Korea, and we will keep it at the designated storage centre," he told reporters, according to Bernama.
S.Korea signs with Pfizer for additional 40 mln COVID-19 vaccine doses
South Korea said on Saturday it signed a contract with Pfizer Inc to purchase an additional 40 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine amid fears of spiking infections at home. That brings the current amount of Pfizer vaccines to 66 million doses, it said in a statement. It added that it had secured a total 192 million doses of vaccines, including those from Moderna Inc, AstraZeneca PLC, Johnson & Johnson's and Novavax. "The government has acquired COVID-19 vaccines large enough to vaccinate approximately 100 million people...(which) is double the entire population of South Korea," Health Minister Kwon Deok-cheol told a briefing. "(The government) will make all out efforts to achieve its promise to vaccinate 12 million people by end of June and achieve herd immunity by November," he said.
Vaccine rollout to be boosted by delivery of 165,000 AstraZeneca doses
Ireland is set to receive a large delivery of 165,000 AstraZeneca vaccines next week that had earlier been postponed until May, in a boost to the State’s vaccination programme which has been beset by delays. The latest change in the supply plan for the AstraZeneca vaccine has been made possible after the European Medicines Agency licensed the manufacture of its vaccine in a plant in Asia. AstraZeneca now expects to hit its European delivery target of 20 million doses this month, and 70 million in the second quarter, with Ireland receiving a pro rata share of about 1 per cent.
EU to shortly sign world's largest vaccine deal with Pfizer
The European Commission said it expects to seal the world’s biggest vaccine supply deal within days, securing up to 1.8 billion doses of Pfizer’s (PFE.N) COVID-19 vaccine for the next few years as a debate rages over unfair access to shots for the world’s poorest people. The vaccines from the U.S. drugmaker and its German partner BioNTech would be delivered over 2021-2023, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said during a visit to Pfizer's vaccine plant in Puurs, Belgium. The agreement, which is to include 900 million optional doses, would be enough to inoculate the 450 million EU population for two years and comes as the bloc seeks to shore up long-term supplies.
Venezuela gets 80000 more Sputnik V vaccine doses as COVID-19 cases surge
Venezuela received a new shipment of some 80,000 doses of Russia's Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine, officials said on Saturday, as COVID-19 cases surged and opposition lawmakers criticized the government's vaccine rollout. The shipment brings the total number of vaccines that Venezuela has received to 880,000, Health Minister Carlos Alvarado said. He said the government would focus on inoculating healthcare workers and the elderly with the new shipments. Venezuela has also inoculated public officials, firefighters, civil protection personnel and oxygen distribution workers.
COVID-19: Scientists say vaccines could control pandemic, as Bill Gates optimistic 'the end will come'
COVID-19: Scientists say vaccines could control pandemic, as Bill Gates optimistic 'the end will come'
Vaccines - not lockdowns - should be able to control the coronavirus pandemic, experts have said, as they released new research showing that jabs cut infection and are likely to reduce transmission. So far, more than 33 million people have had at least one dose of a vaccine in the UK, while 11 million have had two jabs. Some initial research from the UK has found that a single shot of either the Pfizer-BioNTech or Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccination leads to a two-thirds drop in total coronavirus cases and a 74% drop in cases which are symptomatic. Following both doses of Pfizer, there was a 70% fall in all COVID cases, and a 90% drop in those which were symptomatic. People who are symptomatic are most likely to spread the virus. Experts are still collecting data on two doses of AstraZeneca but say their findings show that both vaccines work and are effective in the real world.