More than 100m doses could be discarded by December if global leaders do not share jabs with poorest countries, warns former PM
More than 100m Covid vaccine doses are due to expire and be “thrown away” unless global leaders urgently share surplus supplies with the world’s poorest countries, Gordon Brown has warned.
The “staggering” number of stockpiled “use now” jabs will be of no use to anyone by December, according to a new report from the research group Airfinity.
Continue reading...A decision not to recommend third-shot booster vaccinations for most Americans is “not the end of the story”, White House chief medical adviser Dr Anthony Fauci insisted on Sunday, two days after a scientific panel appeared to turn the Biden administration’s plan for combating coronavirus on its head.
Related: Tate Reeves: Biden vaccine mandate an ‘attack on hardworking Americans’
Continue reading...Ursula von der Leyen says the union’s vaccination programme is now a success after its stumbling start
We did it,” said Ursula von der Leyen in her annual state of the union address last week. With more than 70% of its adult population now fully vaccinated against the coronavirus, Europe is, “against all critics, among the world leaders”.
Moreover, the Commission president said, the EU had exported half its vaccines: “We delivered more than 700 million doses to the European people, and we delivered more than 700 million doses to the rest of the world. We are the only region to achieve that.”
Continue reading...Those most at risk from Covid say the easing of restrictions when vaccination targets are met will bring anxiety and danger
“In the roadmap to freedom, I hear nothing about people like me, other than as a qualifying postscript to the Covid deaths: ‘But they had an underlying health condition’,” says Racquel Sherry.
“Freedom day doesn’t include me.”
Continue reading...England’s deputy medical chief asked for data to be withheld unless British vaccine guinea pigs allowed to travel abroad
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England’s deputy chief medical officer asked ministers to withhold all UK clinical trial data from the EU if European countries continued to deny entry to British vaccine trial volunteers, the Observer can reveal.
Jonathan Van-Tam made the extraordinary proposal after months of uncertainty for the 19,000 volunteers who are effectively unable to travel to Europe to see family, work or go on holiday because they took part in trials of Novavax and Valneva.
Continue reading...Thomas Cook chief executive predicts this weekend will be biggest of the year so far; about 1,000 protesters gather in Melbourne as state records 535 cases
Prof Adam Finn, a member of the UK Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, has said while it is not “essential” for 12-15 years to get the Covid-19 vaccination, it is also “perfectly sensible” for them to have it.
He told Times Radio:
It’s a finely balanced decision. It’s not a black and white decision. It’s not essential that these children receive the vaccine, but equally it’s a perfectly sensible thing to do. It’s being offered because the benefits do outweigh the risks, and it’s available for people who want it. And I’m afraid that’s the truth of the situation.
Because the risks on either side are not that high. It’s not like these children are at great risk from Covid, or indeed that they’re at great risk from the vaccination.
Ronapreve, the Covid antibody drug, is to be given to vulnerable NHS patients.
Covid antibody drug Ronapreve to be given to vulnerable NHS patients https://t.co/lU6CTVlE3g
Continue reading...Research finds those with Down’s syndrome, Parkinson’s and other conditions may benefit from booster dose
People living with chronic conditions such as Down’s syndrome and dementia remain among the most vulnerable to Covid-19 even after vaccination, research has found.
The study, based on data from more than 6.9 million vaccinated adults, 5.2 million of whom had received both doses, found that being vaccinated offers powerful protection against hospitalisation for almost all groups. However, a risk calculator based on the data shows that some groups remain at particular risk and may benefit from booster vaccine doses and treatments such as monoclonal antibodies.
Continue reading...Scientific advisers to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have voted not to recommend a third shot of the Pfizer vaccine for most Americans, a potentially significant blow to the Biden administration after it announced a plan to “boost” adults before advisory committees had a chance to review scientific evidence in public.
Related: ‘Fascist and tyrannical’: US vaccine mandates induce rightwing hysteria
Continue reading...Tourism minister announces pilot scheme as NSW records 1,284 new Covid cases and 12 deaths
New South Wales will introduce a home quarantine “pilot” for international arrivals as part of a plan to begin opening international borders even as parts of the state returned to lockdown.
The pilot, which will be run as a partnership between the NSW government and the commonwealth, will trial a seven-day home quarantine program for about 175 fully vaccinated people.
Continue reading...Heather Maddern and her daughter, Sammie-Jo Forde, were care workers and Maddern had shared conspiracy theories online
An anti-vaxxer mother and her daughter died just days apart in a Belfast hospital after they contracted Covid-19, leaving their family “devastated”.
The BBC reported that Sammie-Jo Forde, 32, died in the Ulster hospital on Saturday, where she had been treated on the same ward as her mother, Heather Maddern, 55, who died on 31 August.
Continue reading...Joe Biden has introduced a vaccine mandate affecting millions, but some countries have gone further
Following the decision by the US president, Joe Biden, to introduce a vaccine mandate for millions of workers, and the UK government’s decision to row back on its push to require vaccine passports for nightclubs and other crowded events, where does the issue of insisting on vaccination stand globally?
Continue reading...Dr Michelle Fiscus says vaccine mandates, like seat belt laws, will get people to do the right thing for the good of all
Dr Michelle Fiscus worked in the health sector for almost 20 years, most recently as Tennessee’s top vaccine official. Until the day she was fired, she got excellent job performance reviews. And then one day she sent out a reminder that in Tennessee, children over the age of 14 may choose to be vaccinated without asking their parents first.
And she lost her job.
Continue reading...Joe Biden has been called ‘fascist’ and ‘tyrannical’ for his Covid prevention measures but the public appears to be on his side
When Joe Biden announced sweeping federal coronavirus vaccine requirements for 100 million Americans, the White House was braced for objections from Republican opponents.
But this being 2021, the rightwing backlash has gone way beyond mere political debate into the realm of incendiary language that, analysts fear, could translate into direct and violent action.
Continue reading...Minister says health officials found no evidence that any patient reported such side effects: ‘We wasted so much time running down this false claim’
Trinidad and Tobago’s health minister has dismissed claims by the rapper Nicki Minaj that a cousin’s friend had become impotent after receiving the Covid-19 vaccine, saying that health officials in the Caribbean country had found no evidence that any patient had reported such side-effects.
“As we stand now, there is absolutely no reported side effect or adverse event of testicular swelling in Trinidad … and none that we know of anywhere in the world,” the minister, Terrence Deyalsingh, said in a press conference on Wednesday.
Continue reading...A province that has long boasted of its loose coronavirus restrictions has also been the site of North America’s highest caseloads
A surge in coronavirus cases has pushed the healthcare system in the Canadian province of Alberta to the verge of collapse, as healthcare workers struggle against mounting exhaustion and a growing anti-vaccine movement in the region.
The province warned this week that its ICU capacity was strained, with more people requiring intensive care than any other point during the pandemic – nearly all of them unvaccinated.
Continue reading...Outlining the government's winter Covid-19 plan, Boris Johnson said the government will 'will keep further measures in reserve. A plan B.' These measures include face masks, advice to work from home and vaccine passports, the prime minister said.
Speaking at a No 10 press conference, Johnson added that 'it might still make the difference between keeping businesses open at full capacity or not'
JCVI recommends Pfizer/BioNTech shot be used regardless of vaccine received first time around
Covid boosters will be offered to all over-50s and those at greatest risk of the disease as part of the “toolbox” of measures for controlling coronavirus over the autumn and winter following guidance from the government’s vaccine advisers.
The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) said a third dose of vaccine would top up the immunity in those whose protection had likely waned since they completed their first round of shots earlier in the year.
Continue reading...The cable news personality also defended people who buy fake proof of vaccination against Covid-19
In an interview, Tucker Carlson admitted: “I lie.”
The Fox News host was speaking to Dave Rubin. The YouTube host and conservative author asked how Carlson felt about CNN hosts Brian Stelter, Chris Cuomo and Don Lemon, who Rubin called “clown people”.
Continue reading...Health secretary updates parliament on pandemic winter plans, including proposals for booster jabs for over-50s and the option for 12- to 15-year-olds to get the jab
In the UK, the majority of those now in hospital with Covid-19 are unvaccinated. Many face their last days with enormous regret, and their relatives are telling their stories to try to convince others like them
Matt Wynter, a 42-year-old music agent from Leek, Staffordshire, was working out in his local gym in mid-August when he saw, to his great surprise, that his best friend, Marcus Birks, was on the television. He jumped off the elliptical trainer and listened carefully.
The first thing he noticed was that Birks, who was also from Leek and a performer with the dance group Cappella, looked terrible. He was gasping for breath and his face was pale. “Marcus would never usually have gone on TV without having done his hair and had a shave,” Wynter says.
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