Category Archives: Vaccines and immunisation

Australia Covid live news update: new offshore processing agreement with Nauru; NSW confirms 11 deaths, Victoria one; police await fifth day of Melbourne protests

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The Associated Press is reporting an Australian economist who was arrested when Myanmar’s military seized power in February made an appearance Thursday in a court in the capital Naypyitaw, where he will be tried for violation of the official secrets law, his lawyer said.

Sean Turnell had been serving as an advisor to the country’s leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, who was also arrested when her elected government was ousted by the army. Suu Kyi and three of her former Cabinet ministers have also been charged under the law.

Shadow energy minister Chris Bowen gave a blistering doorstop press conference earlier, blasting the Coalition’s climate and energy policy shift.

It comes as federal treasurer, Josh Frydenbrg is due to tell business leaders later today that the government needs to shift towards adopting a net zero commitment.

Josh Frydenberg personally intervened to try and get the chief executive of AGL sacked because he dared to invest in renewable energy. When he was energy minister, he wouldn’t commit to net zero by 2050. He was the architect of the failed National Energy Guarantee.

Yet, now in some sort of bizarre positioning, internally in the Liberal party, he thinks he can be the champion of net zero. Well, he’s got net zero credibility. Josh Frydenberg has net zero credibility when it comes to climate change. He has too often had the chance to act and too often failed.

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Tell us: how will you be affected by France’s new vaccine passport rules?

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From 30 September, people aged 12-17 visiting France from the UK must present a vaccine passport to access most public places in the country

From 30 September, people aged 12-17 visiting France from the UK must present a “passe sanitaire” (vaccine passport) to access most public places in the country. Previously, this was only required for people aged 18 years and older.

The UK’s Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) does not recommend that most 12 to 15-year-olds get vaccinated and, for the time being, is only backing offering a first dose to 16 and 17-year-olds. This may pose practical problems for many UK-based parents, whose only option would seem to be paying for PCR tests.

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England’s Covid travel rules spark outrage around the world

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Refusal to recognise vaccines given across Latin America, Africa and south Asia has been denounced as ‘discriminatory’

England’s Covid travel rules and refusal to recognise vaccines administered across huge swaths of the world have sparked outrage and bewilderment across Latin America, Africa and south Asia, with critics denouncing what they called an illogical and discriminatory policy.

The transport secretary, Grant Shapps, described England’s rules, unveiled last Friday, as “a new simplified system for international travel”. “The purpose is to make it easier for people to travel,” Shapps said.

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Whitty and Van-Tam say it is ‘inevitable’ that unvaccinated children will get Covid – video

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Prof Chris Whitty, the chief medical officer for England, and Prof Jonathan Van-Tam, the deputy chief medical officer, appeared before the Commons education committee over the decision to offer Covid vaccines to 12- to 15-year-olds, after the Joint Committee on Vaccines and Immunisation (JCVI) had said the benefits were too small.

Whitty told MPs said any time in school missed as a result of being inoculated should be balanced against the potentially longer period lost as a result of being infected.

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Big pharma fuelling human rights crisis over Covid vaccine inequity – Amnesty

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Six companies warned not to put profit before lives as report shows less than 1% of almost 6bn doses have gone to low-income countries

Amnesty International has accused six pharmaceutical companies that have developed Covid-19 vaccines of fuelling a global human rights crisis, citing their refusal to sufficiently waive intellectual property rights, share vaccine technology and boost global vaccine supply.

After assessing the performance of six Covid-19 vaccine developers – Pfizer and BioNTech, Moderna, Johnson & Johnson, AstraZeneca and Novavax – Amnesty International claims that all are failing to uphold their own human rights commitments and warns they should not be putting profit before the lives of people in the world’s poorest countries.

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US to donate an additional 500m Covid vaccines to poorer countries, says Biden

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US president outlines plan at Covid summit, bringing America’s global donation to over 1.1bn doses amid backlash over boosters

Joe Biden has announced that the US will donate an additional 500m Covid-19 vaccines to low- and middle-income countries around the world, bringing America’s total global donation to more than 1.1bn doses.

The US president outlined the plan on Wednesday at a virtual coronavirus summit where he urged world leaders to “go big” in tackling the pandemic and closing the vaccination gap with poorer nations.

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‘Mask it, vax it or choose the casket’: the pastor and barber urging his community to get vaccinated

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The Rev Kenneth B Thomas Sr, also a barber shop owner, coach and teacher, is making a grassroots effort in a Black Arkansas community

This photo essay was published in partnership with Scalawag, a nonprofit journalism and storytelling organization that disrupts dominant narratives about the US south. Scalawag’s series Breaking Through Covid is a collection of stories focused on illuminating the ways the Covid-19 pandemic has realigned communities and put sharper points on the crises the south was already facing.

At Bethesda Worship and Healing Missionary Baptist Church in Jonesboro, Arkansas, the Rev Kenneth B Thomas Sr preaches the gospel of “Mask it, vax it or choose the casket. The choice is yours.”

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Holiday homes for disabled people face closure due to England’s vaccines mandate

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Charity says Covid policy is having ‘devastating consequences’ for sector already in crisis

Some of England’s only holiday homes for disabled people in care are facing closure due to the policy that means all staff must be fully vaccinated against coronavirus.

The charity, Revitalise, said England’s vaccines mandate for care homes was having “devastating consequences” for a sector already in crisis.

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Gordon Brown calls for urgent action to avert ‘Covid vaccine waste disaster’

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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.

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Fauci: FDA vote against Covid booster shots ‘not the end of the story’

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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’

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Slow but steady has seen the EU win out in the vaccine race

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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.”

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‘Freedom day doesn’t include me’: for some, the end of lockdown will be a time of fear

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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.”

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Ministers told to bar EU from UK trial data in vaccines row

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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.

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Coronavirus live news: holiday bookings expected to surge after England travel rules change; clashes at Melbourne protests

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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

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People with chronic conditions among most at risk from Covid even after jabs

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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.

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FDA advisers vote not to recommend Pfizer booster shots for most Americans

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  • Vote may be significant blow to Biden administration
  • Panel does back boosters for those older than 65

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

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NSW Covid update: state to trial seven-day home quarantine for international arrivals

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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.

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Anti-vaxxer mother and daughter die from Covid in Belfast hospital

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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.

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Which countries are enforcing mandatory Covid jabs – and how?

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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?

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‘On the right side of history’: ousted Tennessee vaccine official on mandates, myths and muzzles

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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.

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