Research reveals fully vaccinated people are just as likely to pass virus on to those they share a home with
People who are fully vaccinated against Covid yet catch the virus are just as infectious to others in their household as infected unvaccinated people, research suggests.
Households are a key setting for the transmission of Covid infections (pdf), with frequent prolonged daily contact with an infected person linked to an increased risk of catching the virus.
Continue reading...Moscow closes schools and Putin authorises week-long holiday as many resist getting vaccinated
Regions across Russia have reintroduced severe anti-coronavirus restrictions as the country faces record deaths and new infections amid a lacklustre vaccination campaign.
Schools, dine-in cafes and many offices in Moscow will be closed until 7 November, and Vladimir Putin has authorised a week-long holiday period for all Russians that is seen as a creeping lockdown to fight surging Covid numbers, with records for numbers of cases and deaths being broken on a daily basis.
Continue reading...Tuberculosis campaigners tell G20 leaders $1bn is needed annually for vaccine research to reverse decades of underfunding
A group of tuberculosis survivors are calling for more funding and action to find new vaccines, after the numbers dying of the infection rose for the first time in 10 years.
In 2020, 1.5 million were killed by TB and 10 million infected, according to the World Health Organization. Campaigners want world leaders to invest $1bn (£730m) every year into vaccine research, spurred on by the momentum from the Covid jab development.
Continue reading...UK deaths are up compared to last Wednesday; Novavax asking UK watchdog to approve its Covid jab
Following up on those comments, Dame Meg Hillier has been on the BBC this morning, saying that the Conservative government’s test and trace programme treated taxpayers as if they were an ATM. PA Media quote her saying:
There was a lot of gung-ho confidence from No 10 that we would have a ‘moonshot’ towards mass testing. Those messages kept getting more optimistic. Baroness Harding was also very optimistic about what they achieved.
But in the end it massively over-promised for what it delivered and it was eye-watering sums of money.
The national Test & Trace programme was allocated eye watering sums of taxpayers’ money in the midst of a global health and economic crisis. It set out bold ambitions but has failed to achieve them despite the vast sums thrown at it. Only 14% of 691m lateral flow tests sent out had results reported, and who knows how many took the necessary action based on the results they got, or how many were never used. The continued reliance on the over-priced consultants who “delivered” this state of affairs will by itself cost the taxpayer hundreds of millions of pounds. For this huge amount of money we need to see a legacy system ready to deliver when needed but it’s just not clear what there will be to show in the long term. This legacy has to be a focus for government if we are to see any value for the money spent.
Continue reading...A congressional investigation has laid bare the disregard with which the Brazilian president treated the lives of his compatriots
To describe the Brazilian senate’s 1,180 page report on Jair Bolsonaro’s handling of the Covid pandemic as damning would be inadequate. Formally approved on Tuesday by a cross-party committee, the report chronicles not just bad leadership but wilful, lethal acts of folly, carried out by a Donald Trump mini-me who sacrificed lives on the altar of his own unfounded presumptions. It recommends that President Bolsonaro face criminal indictments for a catalogue of actions and omissions that could have led to as many as 300,000 avoidable deaths.
As Mr Bolsonaro presided over a death toll which is now the second-highest in the world (after the United States), the report finds he deliberately sent his citizens over the top without defences in the battle against Covid. Other countries scrambled to buy up vaccines when they became available; the president delayed for half a year while ruthlessly pursuing a herd immunity strategy. He himself claims not to have yet been vaccinated. When Brazilians suffered a record rise in deaths during a 24-hour period last March, their president told them to “stop whining”. The wearing of masks and social distancing was treated by Mr Bolsonaro as a kind of weakness in the face of what he described as a “little flu”, and he trolled regional governments’ attempts to introduce Covid restrictions. By presidential decree he tried to keep businesses such as gyms and spas open at the height of the pandemic. Emulating his political hero in Washington, Mr Bolsonaro has disseminated misinformation online and recommended quack treatments for the virus, in the teeth of all scientific evidence. This week, Facebook and YouTube removed a video by him which falsely linked vaccines to the Aids virus. President Bolsonaro’s guiding philosophy during the pandemic is best summed up by the comment he made to journalists a year ago: “All of us are going to die one day … There is no point in escaping from that, in escaping from reality. We have to stop being a country of sissies.”
Continue reading...In Covid-free SA, opening the border means letting the pandemic spread in a ‘controlled entry’
On 23 November, South Australia will open its doors to tourists, to loved ones, to residents finally returning home – and to Covid.
Other states and countries have called it “freedom day” when they emerge blinking into the light from lockdowns. But in Covid-free SA, lifting border restrictions means letting the pandemic in. Deliberately, almost. Authorities are calling it a “controlled entry”.
Continue reading...Authorities move to head off supply glut amid calls for increased donations to lower-income neighbouring countries
Almost 1,000 Covid vaccination providers are destroying expired AstraZeneca supplies, with the wastage of 31,833 doses reported despite Australian production of the vaccine continuing at near-record rates.
There are now fears more will be binned as rates of uptake wane due to increased vaccination choice and the federal health department stepping in to manage the overstock.
Continue reading...Nearly unanimous vote clears the way for possible approval for emergency use next month, making nearly 30m children eligible
Independent advisers for the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Tuesday recommended the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid vaccine for children aged five to 11 – the first vaccine available for younger children in the US.
Of 18 members, 17 voted yes and one abstained.
Continue reading...Analysis: early uncertainty around vaccination advice for expectant mothers has left them confused and hesitant
In the early stages of the coronavirus pandemic, there was uncertainty around almost everything, from who was more adversely affected by Covid-19 to who should get vaccinated first – or at all.
But as awareness about the illness and vaccine safety has grown, one group in particular remains confused and torn about the risk of immunisation: expectant mothers.
Continue reading...UK also reports 263 further deaths; Belgium reinstates curbs after 75% jump in daily cases in a week
Headteachers have described the “sinister” intimidation tactics being used by protesters against the vaccination against Covid of teenagers in schools.
“It started with a few emails from a group calling itself Lawyers for Freedom,” the Guardian was told by the headteacher of one of a number of Liverpool schools that have come under pressure from anti-vaccine activists. “An email is relatively easy to ignore.”
Continue reading...As states reopen, a national, uniform approach would ‘make everything we do in life easier’, employers say
Business groups are pushing for a uniform approach to Covid-19 vaccination mandates as states and territories forge ahead with their reopening roadmaps.
Council of Small Business Organisation Australia (COSBOA) CEO, Alexi Boyd, said a national standardised approach to vaccination mandates would offer the “clarity and certainty” small businesses had been lacking.
Continue reading...Researchers use AI – and witchcraft folklore – to map the coronavirus conspiracy theories that have sprung up
Researchers have mapped the web of connections underpinning coronavirus conspiracy theories, opening a new way of understanding and challenging them.
Using Danish witchcraft folklore as a model, the researchers from UCLA and Berkeley analysed thousands of social media posts with an artificial intelligence tool and extracted the key people, things and relationships.
Immunologists say Bayern Munich’s Joshua Kimmich is mistaken and vaccine misunderstandings persist
German immunologists have warned that fundamental misunderstandings about the way vaccines work persist among the population, after the Bayern Munich and Germany footballer Joshua Kimmich confirmed over the weekend that he had declined to receive a Covid jab due to concerns over long-term side-effects.
“I have concerns about the lack of long-term studies,” the 26-year-old told Sky Sport. “I am of course aware of my responsibility. I follow all hygiene measures and get tested every two to three days. Everyone should make the decision for themselves.”
Continue reading...The EU’s medical body has approved booster doses of Moderna’s Covid vaccine for all adults; UK also reports 38 further Covid-related deaths
Just back on those school anti-vaccine protests for a moment, my colleague Sarah Marsh has this report: Keir Starmer calls for schools to be protected from anti-vaccine protests
The Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) revealed this month that most of the schools surveyed by the union (79%) had been targeted by anti-vaxxers. This had mainly been through emails threatening legal action, but the ASCL said in some cases staff had been threatened with physical harm and some protesters have gained access to school sites.
Starmer said: “It is sickening that anti-vax protesters are spreading dangerous misinformation to children in protests outside of schools. The uptake of vaccines among children is far too low and the government’s rollout is painfully slow. Everything must be done to get those eligible jabbed as quickly as possible in this public health emergency.
“Labour believes the law around public spaces protection orders (PSPOs) urgently needs to be updated so that local authorities can rapidly create exclusion zones for anti-vax protests outside of schools.”
PSPOs can be used to disperse people from a public area and have previously been used to move on protesters outside abortion clinics or to allow police to confiscate alcohol in certain spaces.
But gaining permission to impose one takes significant consultation, and Labour is calling for an expedited process in cases of preventing harassment and intimidation of children outside schools if agreed to by the school, the leader of the local council, and the local police chief constable.
Government’s chief medical adviser makes prediction after FDA review panel finds that benefits for group outweighs risks
Vaccines to protect children ages five to 11 from Covid-19 will be available in the US in early to mid-November, Dr Anthony Fauci, the government’s chief medical adviser, predicted on Sunday.
A review panel of the US food and drug administration (FDA) found last week that the benefits of Pfizer-BioNTech shots for the younger age group outweighed the risks, setting up an advisory meeting on Tuesday of outside FDA experts who are expected to recommend emergency use authorization.
Continue reading...Campaigners call for action after analysis finds only third of jabs pledged to poorer countries this year have so far been delivered
The UK is lagging behind other G7 countries in sharing surplus Covid vaccines with poorer countries, according to newly published figures.
The advocacy organisation One, which is campaigning to end extreme poverty and preventable disease by 2030, described it as shaming for the UK government.
Continue reading...In the United States, the issue of whether “natural immunity” from prior infection is as good as vaccination is becoming politicised.
Fortunately, the Office for National Statistics has released results from a sophisticated analysis of its Covid-19 infection survey that address this issue. Helped by test-and-trace data, it identified respondents’ “infection episodes” and used other data to infer whether participants were previously vaccinated, had a previous infection or neither.
Continue reading...Victoria may reach jab milestone allowing greater freedoms this week, while figures show worrying number of school closures from outbreaks
The full rundown on Covid in NSW today, brought to you by AAP:
NSW has added a further 296 locally acquired infections to its Covid caseload along with four more deaths.
Some 480 people with the virus remain in hospitals across the state, 119 of them in intensive care.
Meanwhile, Halloween enthusiasts are being warned to keep trick-or-treating Covid-safe.
“If you and your family are planning to celebrate Halloween this year ... aim to keep the celebrations outside, provide closed packaging for treats and instead of communal lolly bowls consider other ways to distribute your treats,” NSW Health’s Jeremy McAnulty advised on Saturday.
Continue reading...The world’s lockdown capital emerges for its first Friday night of freedom, but not everyone joined the party
From St Kilda to Coburg the traffic is heavy in Melbourne for the first time in months. The bars are filling up and friends are having long hugs as the world’s lockdown capital sheds its Covid restrictions and opens up.
“Melbourne is back!” yells one man out of his car window on Lygon Street in the inner-city suburb of Carlton.
Continue reading...Rule that pass must be presented to access workplaces forces hand of many vaccine-hesitant Italians
At the vaccination hub outside Termini train station in Rome, a steady flow of people have been turning up for their first Covid vaccine dose in recent days. The mood is begrudging. “If I didn’t have to do it, I wouldn’t,” said Rosanna Barbuto, a supermarket worker. Catalin, 41, who works in a factory, said: “I’m taking it because I need to work.”
They are among the vaccine-hesitant who caved in after Italy made it mandatory for all workers to present a so-called green pass to access their workplaces. The rules are the strictest in Europe and require workers to present proof of vaccination, immunity or of a negative test taken within the previous 48 hours. Some see Italy’s cautious approach as the key to its current low infection rate.
Continue reading...