India to resume exports of coronavirus vaccines in October -  India, the world’s largest vaccine producer, will resume exports and donations of surplus coronavirus vaccines in October after halting them during a devastating surge in domestic infections in April, the health minister said Monday. Mansukh Mandaviya said the surplus vaccines will be used to fulfill India’s “commitment towards the world for the collective fight against COVID-19,” but vaccinating Indians will remain the government’s “topmost priority.” India was expected to be a key supplier for the world and for the U.N.-backed initiative aimed at vaccine equity known as COVAX. It began exporting doses in January but stopped doing so to inoculate its own population during a massive surge in infections in April that pushed India’s health system to the breaking point

COVID has killed about as many Americans as the 1918-19 flu - COVID-19 has now killed about as many Americans as the 1918-19 Spanish flu pandemic did — approximately 675,000. The U.S. population a century ago was just one-third of what it is today, meaning the flu cut a much bigger, more lethal swath through the country. But the COVID-19 crisis is by any measure a colossal tragedy in its own right, especially given the incredible advances in scientific knowledge since then and the failure to take maximum advantage of the vaccines available this time. “Big pockets of American society — and, worse, their leaders — have thrown this away,” medical historian Dr. Howard Markel of the University of Michigan said of the opportunity to vaccinate everyone eligible by now.

US Lifts Ban For Fully Vaccinated Travellers From UK And Europe - The White House is to lift the US travel Covid ban and allow fully vaccinated arrivals from the UK and Europe to enter the country from early November. Other countries including Brazil, China, India, Iran, Ireland and South Africa will also be included in the new policy. Passengers will not need to quarantine upon arrival but will need to prove they were vaccinated before boarding a flight and provide a negative Covid test which was taken within the last three days.

Coronavirus digest: Germany to offer vaccines to children in 2022 - German Health Minister Jens Spahn said that a vaccine for children under 12 will likely be available from the first quarter of 2022. Spahn also expects approval for a vaccine for youth to go through by the beginning of next year. 'I am assuming that the approval for a vaccine for children under 12 years of age will come in the first quarter of 2022,' Spahn told Funke media group. 'Then we could protect the younger ones even better.' 'A recommendation from the Standing Committee on Vaccination [STIKO] will also come a little later in this case,' he added. BioNTech, for example, announced a few days ago that it would apply for approval of its coronavirus vaccine for children between the ages of five and eleven in the coming weeks.

Covid-19 Vaccine Rollout Falters in Bulgaria Amid ‘Perfect Storm’ of Mistrust, Fake News - As a European Union member state, Bulgaria has access to Western-approved Covid-19 vaccines and enough doses for its population. But a mix of misinformation, low trust in authorities and conflicting messaging means less than a fifth of Bulgarians are fully vaccinated. With few takers at home and some shots soon expiring, the government recently donated 172,500 doses to the Kingdom of Bhutan, nearly 4,000 miles away. Some expired shots are being thrown away. Bulgaria, a country of some seven million people, has fully vaccinated far less of its population than the EU average of 61% and the U.S. rate of 54%, according to Our World in Data, a project based at Oxford University. It has emerged as an extreme case study of the challenge to convince vaccine holdouts to get the shot.

Unvaccinated Jair Bolsonaro to test UN General Assembly coronavirus 'honor system' - The United Nations is demanding world leaders arriving in New York for its General Assembly adhere to an “honor system” to attest they are fully vaccinated against the coronavirus. But that mandate will be tested in the general debate’s very first moments. Jair Bolsonaro, who contracted the virus last year and as recently as last week said publicly that he does not need to be vaccinated because he has naturally acquired antibodies, is scheduled to kick off the 76th U.N. General Assembly’s general debate on Tuesday.

Pfizer, BioNTech Say Covid-19 Vaccine Is Safe for Children Aged 5 to 11 - The companies said the Covid-19 vaccine generated levels of antibodies that were similar to those of younger adults. Pfizer will seek emergency use authorization in the U.S. as early as the end of the month.

The search for antivirals for covid-19 - Antivirals are one of the most sought after, yet missing, tools to control SARS-COV-2. Chris Stokel-Walker asks what was learnt from a similar search nearly 20 years ago. Antiviral drugs are among the most researched tools for treating covid-19. They either prevent a virus entering a host cell or prevent it from being able to replicate once it is inside. And yet, over 18 months into the pandemic, finding ones that are effective against SARS-CoV-2 has proved challenging. Remdesivir was an early frontrunner—and many governments were desperate enough to grant it emergency use approval despite limited evidence. Those early hopes were ultimately dashed when major studies, notably the World Health Organization’s Solidarity trial, found it to be ineffective at preventing death (although it did help patients already recovering do so marginally faster). Doctors in Japan have treated covid-19 patients with favipiravir, an influenza antiviral, but the drug has previously been linked to birth defects

Covid Vaccine for Kids Age 5-11 Likely Available by Halloween, Fauci Says - The U.S. death toll from the Covid-19 pandemic surpassed the number of fatalities in the 1918 influenza pandemic, a milestone many experts say was avoidable after the arrival of vaccines. The White House announced the most sweeping change to U.S. travel policies in months, widening the gap in rules between vaccinated people -- who will see curbs relaxed -- and the unvaccinated. The regulations will replace existing bans on foreigners’ travel to the U.S. from certain regions, including Europe. Pfizer Inc. and partner BioNTech SE said their vaccine was safe and produced strong antibody responses in younger children in a large-scale trial. The shot may be available by the end of next month, Anthony Fauci said.

End of working from home 'fuelled England's third Covid wave': Government figures show infection rates were highest among white-collar workers after No10 dropped WFH guidance - There were some 235 cases per 100,000 person-weeks among white people during third Covid wave. Meanwhile, the figure was as low as 98 in other ethnic groups suggesting white people drove cases up. And cases were higher among office-based jobs during, Office for National Statistics data shows