Category Archives: Vaccines and immunisation

WHO calls for Covid booster pause so those in poorer nations can be vaccinated – video

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The World Health Organization has asked the world's richest countries to delay rolling out booster shots to their populations before at least 10% of the world is vaccinated. 

'We cannot accept countries that have already used most of the global supply of vaccines using even more of it, while the world’s most vulnerable people remain unprotected,' said the WHO chief, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

The WHO said the moratorium would help towards the goal of vaccinating at least 10% of every country’s population by the end of September, and would help fight a pandemic that has killed more than 4.25 million people worldwide

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‘They thought Covid only kills white people’: myths and fear hinder jabs in DRC

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Mutant strain may emerge amid vaccine hesitancy, experts say, as even medics reject jabs in DR Congo

Dr Christian Mayala and Dr Rodin Nzembuni Nduku sit together on a bench outside the Covid ward at Kinshasa’s Mama Yemo hospital.

They are discussing the health of their father, Noel Kalouda, who contracted coronavirus weeks before, and is now lying in a hospital bed, breathing through an oxygen mask.

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Vaccine passports look inevitable, so what rights do New Zealanders have? | Claire Breen

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Analysis: Proof of vaccination is nothing new and any requirement that people use a ‘health pass’ will involve balancing various rights

With greater numbers of people being vaccinated and countries looking to reopen borders safely, the introduction of some form of vaccine passport seems increasingly likely.

For New Zealand, where the elimination strategy has been largely successful but which remains vulnerable to border breaches, proof of vaccination may well be a condition of entry.

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Australia politics live: four states on edge as Covid cases rise and bold plan for vaccination providers flagged

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Mystery infections emerge in Victoria and Western Australia; dieticians, midwives could bolster vaccine rollout program. Follow all the day’s news

Scott Morrison will deliver a Closing the Gap update today in the parliament.

Labor will also make a statement.

It seems like Monday was years ago, but we have made it to the last sitting day of the first week of spring sittings.

Barely.

Related: Dentists, midwives and physiotherapists could deliver Covid jabs to bolster Australia’s rollout

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Covid vaccines to be offered to all UK 16- and 17-year-olds

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JCVI decision comes two weeks after body recommended against routine vaccination of children

Covid vaccines will be offered to all 16- and 17-year-olds without needing the consent of their parents, after government experts reversed their advice from just two weeks ago.

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) said older teenagers should be offered their first dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech jab and advice on when to offer the second dose would come later.

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The risks and rewards of vaccinating UK children against Covid

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Analysis: official advisers have called for jabs to be given to children aged 16 and 17 in a rethink of policy

Just weeks ago, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) recommended that children over the age of 12 should only be vaccinated if they were extremely vulnerable or lived with someone at risk, citing concerns about an inflammatory heart condition linked to the Pfizer/BioNTech jab. Now the JCVI has tweaked that decision to allow children aged 16 and 17 to be routinely offered the vaccine.

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Australia Covid live update: NSW records 233 cases and two deaths, including man in 20s; one new case in both Victoria and WA

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Two deaths overnight in Sydney and 233 new local cases in NSW; Queensland to reschedule public holiday as 17 cases recorded. Question time returns. Follow latest updates

About 2,500 students and staff at a school in Melbourne’s west will need to self-isolate and get tested after a teacher caught Covid-19.

Jeroen Weimar, Victoria’s Covid-19 commander, told ABC Melbourne the Al Taqwa College teacher got tested yesterday and her positive result came back today.

Let’s take a look at the market at the close of play, via AAP.

The ASX200 has closed higher than 7500 points for the first time in its history as traders continue to look beyond coronavirus lockdowns.

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UK children aged 16 and 17 expected to be offered Covid vaccine

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Minister says JCVI experts to update advice ‘imminently’ on widening access to vaccine to more teenagers

Covid vaccines are expected to be offered to children in the UK aged 16 and 17, in line with many other countries, after a minister confirmed government experts will update their advice “imminently”.

Michelle Donelan, the universities minister, said the government was expecting an announcement from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) on widening access to the coronavirus vaccine to more teenagers.

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Vaccinologist Barbie: Prof Sarah Gilbert honoured with a doll

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Co-creator of the Oxford/AstraZeneca jab hopes it will inspire young girls to enter Stem careers

Prof Sarah Gilbert has had quite a year. The co-creator of the Oxford/AstraZeneca jab has been made a dame, been given an emotional standing ovation at Wimbledon – and now a Barbie doll has been made in her honour.

Gilbert, who led the development of the Covid vaccine at Oxford University, said she initially found the gesture “very strange” but hoped it would inspire young girls to work in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (Stem).

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Ardern’s popularity stumbles on New Zealand’s slow road to vaccination

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Polls this week suggest the glacial speed of the Covid vaccine rollout is starting to affect Labour’s support, even as PM remains personally popular

An unbeatable leader in times of crisis, New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern’s soaring popularity has teetered on the country’s slow road to vaccination.

This week, polling in New Zealand indicated some of the gloss may be fading from the Ardern government’s second term, which has enjoyed soaringly high popularity over the past year. The poll, conducted by Newshub/Reid Research, put Labour at 43%, down 9.7 percentage points. The results followed a similar trend line polling by TVNZ from May.

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Japan names and shames citizens for breaching Covid quarantine rules

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Officials said the three tried to avoid authorities after returning from abroad, sparking a social media flurry

Japan has carried out a threat to publicly shame people not complying with coronavirus border control measures, releasing the names of three people who broke quarantine rules after returning from overseas.

The health ministry said the three Japanese nationals named had clearly acted to avoid contact with authorities after recently returning from abroad.

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Covid hospitalizations reach highs of last summer as Biden tries to win over unvaccinated – live

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  • More than 51,000 Americans currently hospitalized with coronavirus
  • Sobering news comes as millions of eligible people remain unvaccinated

Richard Luscombe reports for the Guardian:

At least 70% of adults in the US have now received at least one Covid-19 vaccination shot, the White House announced on Monday, reaching a target Joe Biden originally said he had hoped to achieve by 4 July.

Related: US reaches Biden’s 70% first-shot goal as threat to unvaccinated people grows

Greetings from Washington, live blog readers.

Coronavirus hospitalizations continue to climb in the US, now reaching the levels of last summer’s surge in cases, as the highly transmissible Delta variant continues to spread across the country.

Update today, >51,000
Why can't the @CDCgov curate the data and partition it by vaccination status, as done in other countries?
We know it's >>90% unvaccinated, but this needs close tracking to determine extent of breakthrough illness, demographics, time from vaccination, etc pic.twitter.com/cBNx2hnZJK

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National pandemic exit plan modelling doesn’t examine what happens after restrictions are eased

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Critics say national cabinet roadmap appears ‘risky’ with Doherty Institute only considering best strategy for next six months

National cabinet’s pandemic exit strategy only considered modelling for the “transition” phase over the next six months, with the Doherty Institute yet to consider how relaxed restrictions will affect transmission in the community.

The federal government on Tuesday released the modelling that underpinned the updated four-phase roadmap announced on Friday, with the research highlighting the need for a “strategic shift” to targeting young adults who were most likely to transmit the virus.

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US reaches Biden’s 70% first-shot goal as threat to unvaccinated people grows

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CDC director issues new warning as cases rise: ‘Covid-19 is clearly not done with us’

At least 70% of adults in the US have now received at least one Covid-19 vaccination shot, the White House announced on Monday, reaching a target Joe Biden originally said he had hoped to achieve by 4 July.

The administration reported the news in a tweet hailing “Milestone Monday” by Cyrus Shahpar, the government’s Covid-19 data director, who said the seven-day average of people receiving their first dose – 320,000 – was the highest since the Independence Day holiday.

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Australia politics live: parliament resumes; Victoria records four new Covid cases; Westmead hospital worker tests positive

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Anthony Albanese wants the Morrison government to provide a one-off $300 payment to every person who has been fully vaccinated by 1 December. Follow latest updates

The RBA is meeting today to discuss Australia’s cash rate.

I don’t want to spoil anything for you...but expect, no change.

For those interested, you can find the daily legislation schedule for the house, here

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Research into non-injectable Covid vaccines brings hope for needle-phobics

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Scientists say anxiety around needles could be playing role in vaccine hesitancy in the UK

The sight of a needle piercing skin is enough to chill a quarter of adult Britons and trigger up to 4% into fainting. But hope is on the horizon for needle-phobics as researchers are working on a range of non-injectable Covid vaccine formulations, including nasal sprays and tablets.

Almost every vaccine in use today comes with a needle, and the approved Covid-19 vaccines are no exception. Once jabbed, the body’s immune system usually mounts a response, but scientists in the UK and beyond are hoping to harness the immune arsenal of the mucous membranes that line the nose, mouth, lungs and digestive tract, regions typically colonised by respiratory viruses including Covid-19, in part to allay the fears of needle-phobics.

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Australia Covid live update: some children aged 12 to 15 eligible for vaccine; NSW confirms 207 cases and 15th death; Qld records 13 cases and extends lockdown

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NSW records 15th death; Queensland announces business support package as it extends lockdown in 11 LGAs until Sunday; South Australia restrictions eased; Victoria records two local cases; 300 ADF troops start patrolling in Sydney. Follow latest updates

David Gillespie has been seen in the parliament – so Christian Porter has been chosen to be the acting leader of the house, ahead of Gillespie who is the deputy leader of the house.

Barnaby Joyce will be holding a press conference in 15 minutes to talk extended support for the aviation industry.

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Leaders tackle global question of how to persuade people to get Covid jab

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Spectrum of measures including incentives and hardline laws have met with responses varying from rise in uptake to wave of protests

Last week, the president of the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte, appeared on television for a late-night address.

The hardliner has previously pushed a shoot-to-kill policy against drug gangs, but had something else on his mind this time: the coronavirus pandemic and those refusing to be vaccinated, who he suggested should be compelled to stay at home.

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Australia Covid update: NSW reports 239 new cases and seven ICU patients in their 20s

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Gladys Berejiklian says higher vaccination rates the ‘only way to live with Delta’ as Queensland cluster grows to 18 on first day of snap lockdown

Gladys Berejiklian has said New South Wales plans to break vaccination records this month in an effort to control Covid-19, as the state recorded 239 new cases – the equal-highest daily figure in the current Delta outbreak.

The NSW premier on Sunday said higher vaccination rates were the “only way to live with Delta or any other horrific strain that comes along” and urged people in NSW to make August their month to come out and get vaccinated.

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Is Covid-19 on the run in the UK?

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A fall in case numbers last month raised hopes that Britain may be reaching herd immunity, but experts warn against complacency, given uncertainty about new variants and autumn’s return to school

John Edmunds has been at the centre of the unravelling of the Covid-19 pandemic since cases first appeared in January 2020. A member of Sage, the government’s scientific advisory group, and a professor of epidemiology at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, he has consistently warned ministers about the threats posed by the disease.

These risks have often been clear in their nature. But today, 18 months after Covid-19 first appeared, he believes the nation stands at a point of maximum uncertainty about the future of the pandemic.

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