31st Mar 2021 https://nfind.uk/lockdown_exit/index.php/newsletter=260 lockdown_exit

World leaders call for pandemic treaty

TheAssociated Press More than 20 heads of government and global agencies called in a commentary published Tuesday for an international treaty for pandemic preparedness that they say will protect future generations in the wake of COVID19. But there were few details to explain how such an agreement might actually compel countries to act more cooperatively. World Health Organization DirectorGeneral Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and leaders including Prime Minister Boris Johnson of Britain Premier Mario Draghi of Italy and President Paul Kagame of Rwanda proposed a renewed collective commitment to reinforce preparedness and response systems by leveraging the U.N. health agencys constitution. https://apnews.com/article/pandemics-mario-draghi-rwanda-coronavirus-pandemic-covid-19-pandemic-9b5db1741b963094736ff1e2606b4326 30th Mar 2021

World leaders call for pandemic treaty

BBC News Prime Minister Boris Johnson has joined more than 20 world leaders in calling for a new global settlement to help the world prepare for future pandemics. In a newspaper article the leaders including the German chancellor and French president said Covid posed the biggest challenge since World War Two. The pandemic has shown nobody is safe until everyone is safe they said. Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng said the UK would need a surplus of vaccines before it could export supplies. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-56572775 30th Mar 2021

World leaders call for pandemic treaty

AlJazeera As the world battles the biggest health crisis in recent history leaders of 23 countries and the World Health Organization WHO have said an international treaty for pandemic preparedness will protect future generations. The idea of such a treaty aimed at tightening rules on sharing information and ensuring universal and equitable access to vaccines as well as medicines and diagnostics for pandemics was first floated late last year by European Council President Charles Michel. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/3/30/who-and-world-leaders-call-for-pandemic-treaty-after-covid-crisis 30th Mar 2021

Scientists say ministers should ditch ‘rigid’ Covid rules and teach public how to reduce risk of transmission

iNews Ministers should stop telling people to stick to rigid coronavirus rules and instead focus more on explaining how they can reduce the risk of catching the disease a senior Government scientist has said. The Government loosened Covid19 restrictions today implementing a new Rule of Six in England allowing six people or two households to meet outdoors including in private gardens. Scientists believe the next step in easing the measures could lead to a rise in Covid19 cases as people will be more likely to bend the rules after three months of a winter lockdown. https://inews.co.uk/news/politics/scientists-ditch-rigid-covid-rules-teach-public-reduce-risk-of-transmission-931986 30th Mar 2021

Continued lockdown

The Times The government is expected to announce today a further six weeks of lockdown with a minor and gradual easing of restrictions over the course of April. The present guidelines were due to be relaxed next Monday after more than three months of lockdown but it is expected that any changes to public health measures will be limited. It is understood that the 5km exercise and travel limit will be relaxed to at least 10km from next week and that two households will be allowed to meet outdoors later in the month. https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/covid-in-ireland-further-six-weeks-of-lockdown-expected-krvb3wh0b 30th Mar 2021

Continued lockdown

U.S. News & World Report Vienna plans to extend an Easter coronavirus lockdown by five days until the following Sunday Austrias health minister said on Monday while two nearby provinces introducing the same restrictions are still undecided on prolonging them. The eastern provinces of Lower Austria which surrounds Vienna Burgenland which borders Hungary and the capital itself last week announced a lockdown from Thursday April 1 to Tuesday April 6 closing nonessential shops and replacing a nighttime curfew with allday restrictions on movement https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2021-03-29/vienna-plans-to-extend-easter-lockdown-until-following-weekend-minister 30th Mar 2021

Continued lockdown

Reuters UK Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan announced tighter measures against the coronavirus on Monday citing the rising number of highrisk cities across the country. Erdogan said a full weekend lockdown was to be in place during the holy Islamic month of Ramadan and restaurants would only serve food for delivery and takeouts. A curfew from 9 pm until 5 am across the country will continue Erdogan said. Turkey has recorded 32404 new coronavirus cases in the space of 24 hours the highest number this year health ministry data showed on Monday. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-turkey/turkey-tightens-coronavirus-measures-brings-back-weekend-lockdowns-erdogan-idUSKBN2BL2L4?il=0 30th Mar 2021

Continued lockdown

The Guardian Despite mounting the worlds fastest percapita Covid19 vaccination campaign Chile has been forced to announce strict new lockdowns as it plunges deeper into a severe second wave of cases which is stretching intensive care capacity. Chile trails only Israel and the UAE in vaccine doses per 100 inhabitants worldwide but new cases have risen quickly amid mixed health messaging travel over the southern hemisphere summer holidays and the circulation of new variants. https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2021/mar/28/chile-coronavirus-lockdowns-vaccination-success 28th Mar 2021

Continued lockdown

AlJazeera A Qatari health official has called for a full lockdown in the country to stem the spread of the coronavirus as the country continues to report an increasing number of infections on a daily basis. Ahmed alMohammed acting chairman of Hamad Medical Corporation HMC Intensive Care Units said on Monday that Qatar was witnessing a peak in the number of cases since the first wave including a reportedly large number of infections among children under the age of 14. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/3/30/qatar-health-official-calls-for-full-lockdown-amid-spike-in-cases 30th Mar 2021

Continued lockdown

Reuters Ecuadors health system is under severe strain from a spike in coronavirus infections doctors in the countrys capital said on Tuesday adding that some Quito hospitals are working above capacity to treat COVID19 patients. Ecuadors suffered a brutal outbreak of coronavirus in early 2020 primarily in the largest city of Guayaquil. Authorities controlled the situation after several months but in recent weeks have seen cases jump in cities around the country. The saturation of the health system is not only in Quito but at the national level Dr. Victor Alvarez president of the doctors association of the state of Pichincha where Quito is located told reporters. Seeing images of patients lying on the ground or perhaps on a military mattress receiving oxygen in emergency units thats sad. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-ecuador/hospitals-in-ecuadors-capital-overwhelmed-by-covid-19-infections-doctors-say-idUSKBN2BM38S 30th Mar 2021

GSK to help manufacture 60m doses of Novavax Covid vaccine in UK

FiercePharma The U.S. manufacturing partner turning out drug substance for Johnson Johnsons singledose COVID19 vaccine is still waiting on an FDA green light potentially putting a squeeze on JJs supply pipeline. The FDA is weighing an emergency nod for Emergent BioSolutions tapped in July 2020 to provide largescale drug substance manufacturing for JJs shot Politico reported citing two people familiar with the companys emergency use authorization process. The regulator could clear Emergent very soon one source said. https://www.fiercepharma.com/manufacturing/j-j-covid-19-vaccine-partner-emergent-could-soon-win-fda-manufacturing-nod-reports 30th Mar 2021

GSK to help manufacture 60m doses of Novavax Covid vaccine in UK

Financial Times British drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline will be part of the manufacturing process for up to 60m doses of the Covid19 vaccine developed by US rival Novavax in an agreement set to boost UK production of coronavirus jabs. The vaccine has yet to receive the green light from UK regulators but is expected to be submitted for approval over the next three months after showing strong efficacy in a recent latestage trial including against the more transmissible B.1.1.7 variant circulating in the UK. Under an agreement in principle with Novavax and the UK governments Vaccines Taskforce GSK will fill and finish 60m doses of the vaccine preparing the vials and packaging the finished doses for distribution the company said. https://www.ft.com/content/55f1776f-84bb-45bd-83cc-bdc825817879 30th Mar 2021

GSK to help manufacture 60m doses of Novavax Covid vaccine in UK

Yahoo News UK Britain could approve Novavaxs COVID19 vaccine next month the chief investigator for the shots trial told the Evening Standard newspaper. The regulator will do a very detailed and thorough review and will decide in good time said Professor Paul Heath chief investigator for the Novavax jab trial in the UK. I would hope it would be in the spring possibly end of April. https://uk.news.yahoo.com/novavax-covid-19-vaccine-could-114808553.html 30th Mar 2021

GSK to help manufacture 60m doses of Novavax Covid vaccine in UK

Sky News Up to 60 million doses of COVID vaccine will be manufactured at Barnard Castle in the North East Boris Johnson has announced. The prime minister revealed that the Novavax jab which has yet to be approved will undergo its fill and finish stage at a GlaxoSmithKline GSK facility. Part of the vaccine is already being produced in the North East at a Fujifilm site in Billingham StocktononTees as it awaits approval from the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency MHRA. https://news.sky.com/story/covid-19-up-to-60m-vaccine-doses-to-be-manufactured-at-barnard-castle-boris-johnson-says-12260230 30th Mar 2021

New studies into vaccine effectiveness

BBC News The Covid19 vaccine blocks pretty much all cases of serious illness but the government has been much more cautious about saying whether it stops people carrying the virus and infecting others. Until evidence had built up from lots of people being vaccinated scientists could not say for sure if the jab would stop transmission and there was concern those vaccinated might stop taking precautions potentially leading to a rise in infections. But with some now refusing the vaccine in the belief it will not stop them passing on the virus is this caution becoming counterproductive A number of people have contacted the BBC saying they believe the jab could stop them becoming severely ill only. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-56514470 30th Mar 2021

New studies into vaccine effectiveness

Reuters A critical component of the immune system known as T cells that respond to fight infection from the original version of the novel coronavirus appear to also protect against three of the most concerning new virus variants according to a U.S. laboratory study released on Tuesday. Several recent studies have shown that certain variants of the novel coronavirus can undermine immune protection from antibodies and vaccines. But antibodies which block the coronavirus from attaching to human cells may not tell the whole story according to the study by researchers at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases NIAID. T cells appear to play an important additionally protective role. Our data as well as the results from other groups shows that the T cell response to COVID19 in individuals infected with the initial viral variants appears to fully recognize the major new variants identified in the UK South Africa and Brazil said Andrew Redd of the NIAID and Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine who led the study. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-variants-idUSKBN2BM3BZ 30th Mar 2021

New studies into vaccine effectiveness

BBC News Roughly half of people in the UK now have antibodies against Covid either through infection or vaccination tests conducted by the Office for National Statistics ONS show. Most of this will be through vaccination with 30 million people having received at least one dose. Antibodies are proteins in the blood which recognise specific infections and fight them off. Among the oldest who are most at risk levels are even higher. But there has been a small decline in detectable antibodies in that group since the peak of infections in January. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-56576094 30th Mar 2021

New studies into vaccine effectiveness

Wales Online No cases of a blood clotting disorder have been found in the first 440000 people vaccinated against Covid19 in Wales. Scientists in Swansea University looked at anonymised patient data between January 1 2019 and January 31 2021 to determine whether there had been a rise in cases of venous sinus thromboembolism. The extremely rare condition was found in a small number of patients in Norway and Germany and was one of the reasons why several European countries decided to temporarily halt the use of the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine. However the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency MHRA said there has been no confirmation the reports of blood clots were caused by the vaccine. https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/health/no-rare-blood-clots-first-20283912 30th Mar 2021

Scientists warn new COVID mutations in a year as vaccines stall

AlJazeera Leading health experts from around the world warned the slow rollout of vaccines and unequal distribution could mean the shots become ineffective as new coronavirus mutations appear within the next year. Seventyseven scientists from leading academic institutions from around the globe participated in the survey with about 30 percent suggesting secondgeneration vaccines will be needed as soon as in nine months unless vaccines become more widely produced and distributed around the world. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/3/30/scientists-warn-new-covid-mutations-in-a-year-as-vaccines-stall 30th Mar 2021

Celebrities urge Black Britons to take COVID vaccine

AlJazeera A group of celebrities is urging Black Britons to take a COVID19 vaccine as concerns mount over a lag in uptake rates. Figures published on Monday by the United Kingdoms Office for National Statistics ONS showed that more than 90 percent of people over the age of 70 nationwide had received their first dose of vaccine as of March 11. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/3/30/celebrities-urge-black-britons-to-take-covid-vaccine 30th Mar 2021

Celebrities urge Black Britons to take COVID vaccine

The Scotsman Film stars Chiwetel Ejiofor and Thandie Newton author Malorie Blackman and radio DJ Trevor Nelson are among the signatories of an open letter written by Sir Lenny Henry urging black Britons to take the Covid19 vaccine. In the letter actor and comedian Sir Lenny acknowledged the legitimate worries and concerns that people feel adding We know change needs to happen and that its hard to trust some institutions and authorities. He said But were asking you to trust the facts about the vaccine from our own professors doctors scientists involved in the vaccines development GPs not just in the UK but across the world including the Caribbean and Africa. https://www.scotsman.com/read-this/sir-lenny-henry-has-written-an-open-letter-urging-black-britons-to-take-the-covid-19-vaccine-3183053 30th Mar 2021

Coronavirus: Brazil's Covid death rate TRIPLED among people in their 20s in February

Daily Mail Study could not definitely link the rising death rate to the new variant emerging. Brazilian hospitals have been overloaded in February and March possibly adding to risk. Deaths have also approximately doubled in people in their 30s 40s and 50s Brazil has had one of the worst Covid outbreaks in the world after the U.S. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9417987/Coronavirus-Brazils-Covid-death-rate-TRIPLED-people-20s-February.html 30th Mar 2021

Berlin state hospitals stop giving AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine to women under 55

Evening Standard Berlin has stopped giving people under the age of 60 the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine as a precautionary measure. It comes after the countrys medical regulator announced 31 cases of rare blood clots in people who had recently received the vaccine. Nine of the people died. All but two of the cases involved women aged 20 to 63 the Paul Ehrlich Institute Germanys medical regulator said. Several European countries stopped using the AngloSwedish firms vaccine while investigating links with blood clots earlier this month. https://www.standard.co.uk/news/world/berlin-canada-pausing-astrazeneca-covid-vaccine-women-b927032.html 30th Mar 2021

Berlin state hospitals stop giving AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine to women under 55

AlJazeera The German state of Berlin is again suspending the use of AstraZenecas coronavirus vaccine for people below 60 over reports of blood clots. Berlins top health official Dilek Kalayci said on Tuesday that the decision was taken as a precaution before a meeting of representatives from all of Germanys 16 states after the countrys medical regulator reported 31 cases of rare blood clots in people who had recently received the vaccine. Of them nine people died. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/3/30/berlin-suspends-use-of-astrazeneca-vaccine-for-under-60s 30th Mar 2021

Covid-19: 'Background fear' fewer young people will take vaccine

BBC News There is a background fear uptake of a Covid19 vaccine will reduce as the roll out moves to younger age groups a leading GP has said. Various factors such as social media and rumours could influence people according to the chairman of Northern Irelands GP committee. However Dr Alan Stout said there hadnt been a huge amount of vaccine hesitancy so far in Northern Ireland. The numbers have been massively impressive he said. Young men tended to be the hardest group to get for any sort of healthcare intervention added Dr Stout with this trend likely to continue when it came to the coronavirus vaccine. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-56515490 30th Mar 2021

Covid-19: 'Background fear' fewer young people will take vaccine

BBC News Police have warned people to stick to coronavirus rules after large crowds were seen brawling and drinking in a city park on the day restrictions eased. Videos shared on social media showed some hugging and others pushing and shoving at Nottingham Arboretum. One local resident described the scenes on Monday as horrendous. Police said they had now put a dispersal order in place to prevent similar scenes over the next few days. Since Monday morning two households or groups of up to six people have been allowed to meet outside in England. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-nottinghamshire-56575135 30th Mar 2021

Covid: Secret filming exposes contamination risk at test results lab

BBC News Secret filming at one of the biggest UK Covid testing labs has found evidence of potential contamination discarded tests and pressure to hit targets. A BBC reporter working as a lab technician filmed staff cutting corners and processing samples in a way that could cause contamination. This means some people who had taken a test via NHS Test and Trace may have received no result or a wrong result. The lab said it had followed all necessary rules and regulations. Evidence at the lab captured on film shows Checks to ensure samples could be identified were rushed meaning tests were sometimes discarded unnecessarily. Some test samples glooped across an area where other samples had been placed risking contamination. Swabs used by people to take Covid tests were left in their tubes when processed presenting a further contamination risk. A quality control scientist telling the reporter that the quality of the results progressively got worse throughout the day. The findings have led experts to question the way the lab was operating. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-56556806 30th Mar 2021