Category Archives: Vaccines and immunisation

Delta surge ‘could leave hundreds of thousands with long Covid’

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Unvaccinated younger sufferers more at risk of debilitating long-term symptoms, study finds

The decision to lift England’s remaining Covid restrictions next Monday – even as cases of the Delta variant surge around the country – is expected to turbocharge the epidemic and push the nation into what one leading scientist called “uncharted territory” in terms of the numbers of people left suffering from long Covid.

Ministers have been told to expect at least one to two million coronavirus infections in the coming weeks. And while the mass rollout of vaccines – which started with elderly and vulnerable people – will dramatically reduce the proportion who are hospitalised and die, the wave may leave hundreds of thousands of younger people with long-term health problems, researchers have said.

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Covid Australia live updates: Morrison to announce NSW support package after 89 new cases and one death; three cases in Victoria

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A man in his 70s from Sydney’s east has died of coronavirus; Queensland keeps border open for now; support package for NSW to include increased payments for people who have lost work. Follow the latest updates live

It’s a little late today, but pleased to keep up Matilda Boseley’s tradition of highlighting the bizarre graphic design choices of the Queensland premier’s social media team.

Today’s special announces 100 new Tafe scholarships. Someone has spent time etching the bloke’s arm in front of the graphic, for some reason.

100 TAFE scholarships valued at up to $5,000 are up for grabs.

The skills TAFE offers can change lives and set people up for stable and rewarding careers. pic.twitter.com/9TOHAsIbuz

Looks like we’re learning about that Covid relief package at 3.30pm.

Just enough time to take a breath, grab a coffee, watch a couple of episodes of he Office and settle in for the announcement.

Very glad @joshgnosis tweeted these together. pic.twitter.com/yCJ9AWus1o

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Taiwan tech companies buy 10m Covid vaccine doses in deal that sidesteps China

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Beijing had offered Taiwan the vaccines, amid a major shortage on the island, but Taiwan’s ruling party did not want to deal with China directly

Major Taiwanese tech companies have inked a deal to buy 10m vaccine doses for Taiwan, sidestepping months of complicated geopolitical wrangling between Beijing and Taipei.

The US$350m purchase from German manufacturer BioNTech, is split between TSMC, the world’s largest semiconductor manufacturer, and Foxconn, one of the world’s largest contract electronics makers, and its charity foundation. The two companies will donate the vaccines to Taiwan’s central epidemic command centre for distribution.

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Australian ad showing Covid patient gasping for air ‘could increase vaccine hesitancy’

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Scare campaigns can make people more fearful of jab side-effects, expert says

A new Australian government Covid awareness advertisement featuring a young woman gasping for air in a hospital bed has been criticised for leaning into scare tactics and for urging vaccination among a group who are still not eligible for the recommended vaccine.

The federal government released two ads at the weekend, one featuring the young woman, which also carries a message for people to stay at home and get tested, and the other showing a parade of arms bearing Band-Aids after vaccination with the tagline: “Arm yourself against Covid-19.”

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Fauci says no immediate need for Covid booster for fully vaccinated Americans

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Biden chief medical adviser says guidance may change in future as Pfizer suggests booster ‘may be beneficial’ after six months

Dr Anthony Fauci has said there is no immediate need for a Covid-19 booster for fully vaccinated Americans but remained open to the possibility in the future, as reports suggest that one major pharmaceutical company plans to lobby government officials to approve booster shots next week.

Pharmaceutical company Pfizer announced last week that it had observed that its vaccine, while effective against the virus, had “a decline in efficacy against symptomatic disease over time”. The company suggested that as new variants continue to emerge a booster shot after six months “may be beneficial”.

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Irish people in Britain to get green light to visit friends and family

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Europe’s strictest border controls to be relaxed as Ireland prepares to allow visits for essential reasons

Up to 400,000 Irish people in Britain are to be given the green light to visit family and friends at home for the first time in six months as Ireland prepares to lift the strictest border controls in Europe.

Only those with essential reasons such as haulage, health or funeral attendance have been allowed to enter the country since the border restrictions were imposed in January.

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NSW records 77 new cases and one death as new mask and travel rules issued – as it happened

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Masks must be worn in all indoor construction sites across NSW and from 13 July in residential common areas as new restrictions placed on people entering greater Sydney. This blog is now closed

That’s where we’ll end today’s live coverage of Covid news.

Here are the key developments:

The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners and the Australian Medical Association have both backed NSW Health’s call for Sydney residents to bring their second shot of AstraZeneca forward to six weeks after the first dose.

Both the RACGP and the AMA said that the six week window made sense, as it would provide quicker protection against catching, spreading and also potentially dying from Covid-19.

We will definitely will be looking at giving boosters for those who get it early.

You will actually have a benefit from coming in early, because we’ll keep you on that list.”

Related: NSW urges people to bring forward second AstraZeneca dose to six weeks from first

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G20 backs crackdown on multinationals’ use of tax havens

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Finance chiefs endorse landmark move to prevent profits being shifted to low-tax countries

Finance chiefs of the G20 economies have endorsed a landmark move to stop multinationals shifting profits to tax havens and will also warn that Covid variants threaten the global economic recovery.

At talks on Saturday, they also acknowledged the need to ensure fair access to vaccines in poorer countries. But a draft communique to be rubber-stamped at the meeting in Venice did not contain specific proposals on how to achieve that.

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Ursula von der Leyen says EU has reached Covid vaccine target

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Commission president says EU has delivered enough vaccine to inoculate 70% of adults in the bloc

The EU has delivered enough coronavirus vaccine doses to member states to reach a target to fully vaccinate at least 70% of adults in the bloc, the European Commission chief, Ursula von der Leyen, said in a statement on Saturday.

Von der Leyen, who had tweeted on 9 May that the EU was on track to meet its goal of inoculating 70% of adults by summer, urged EU countries to increase vaccinations and said about 500m doses would be distributed across the union by Sunday.

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Vaccines working as expected in preventing Covid deaths, say experts

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Total of 118 people have died after two doses in England, as PHE says vaccine drive has prevented about 30,000 deaths

Two people under 50 and more than 100 over-50s have died of Covid after being fully vaccinated, official figures for England show, as experts said the jabs were working as expected amid surging infection rates attributed to the Delta variant.

Public Health England (PHE) figures show that between 1 February and 21 June this year, there were 118 deaths in people who had had both vaccine doses, 116 of them over 50.

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Australia Covid live update: Morrison doesn’t rule out further financial support as NSW records 44 new coronavirus cases

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Premier Gladys Berejiklian says 29 of the new cases were infectious in the community as new restrictions announced for Sydney; state and territory leaders meet with PM to discuss the vaccine rollout. Follow latest updates

And just a reminder these greater Sydney restrictions came into force about an hour and 15 minutes ago...

NSW residents must now carry ID while exercising to show they are within 10km of their home if they are asked by police. Other rules set out below #COVID19nsw https://t.co/De6jiaZURT pic.twitter.com/PAIVHyV94j

Significant NDIS development. We covered the background to this in detail this morning.

Big news: NSW families minister Alister Henskens confirms the government's NDIS independent assessments plan "will not proceed". pic.twitter.com/gJByatuma2

Although Victoria's disability minister Luke Donnellan is slightly less categorical about it in his statement. pic.twitter.com/zFIYR1bIgc

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Covid live: Tunisia posts highest daily death toll while WHO says worst ‘over for some countries’

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France recommends mandatory jabs for professionals coming into contact with vulnerable; WHO director says many countries have done ‘a good job’

Several countries promised to help Tunisia fight the coronavirus as the north African country recorded its highest daily death toll since the pandemic began, putting its health care system under severe stress and depleting oxygen supplies.

President Kais Saied said that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had pledged to send vaccinations and whatever medical equipment Tunisia needed, Reuters reports.

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First year of pandemic claimed lives of 25 young people in England

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Analysis, showing 4% of 5,830 children hospitalised in 12 months to February entered ICU wards, could inform vaccine policy

During the first year of the pandemic 25 children and teenagers died as a direct result of Covid-19 in England and about 6,000 were admitted to hospital, according to the most complete analysis of national data on the age group to date.

Children seen to be at greatest risk of severe illness and death from coronavirus were in ethnic minority groups, and those with pre-existing medical conditions or severe disabilities.

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Pfizer says no change to Australian Covid vaccine doses, contradicting reports of ‘game-changing’ deal

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Prime minister Scott Morrison says pace of vaccination rollout accelerating

The pharmaceutical giant Pfizer says there is no change in the number of doses the company has contracted to deliver to Australia over 2021 – contradicting reports asserting the Morrison government had secured a “game-changing deal” to triple its access to the jabs.

The prime minister – who has been under significant political pressure because of the slow pace of the vaccination rollout, pressure that has ramped up during the lockdown of greater Sydney – embarked on a media blitz on Friday to argue the pace of the vaccination rollout was accelerating.

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Pfizer to ask US to authorize third Covid vaccine shot as booster

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Evidence shows a greater risk of reinfection six months after inoculation as Israel reports a drop in vaccine effectiveness

Pfizer plans to ask US regulators to authorize a booster dose of its Covid-19 vaccine within the next month, the drugmaker’s top scientist said on Thursday.

The announcement was based on evidence of greater risk of reinfection six months after inoculation and due to the spread of the highly contagious Delta variant of coronavirus.

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99.2% of US Covid deaths in June were unvaccinated, says Fauci

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Cases rise in nearly half of states as low vaccination rates met with more transmissible and severe Delta variant

More than nine out of 10 Americans who died from Covid-19 in the US in June were unvaccinated, according to Dr Anthony Fauci – a statistic that health officials say is especially concerning given the prevalence of vaccine hesitancy in some regions and the rise of the Delta variant.

Maryland reported this week that 100% of those who died from coronavirus there in June had not been vaccinated, while more than 93% of those with new cases or who were hospitalized were similarly unprotected.

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‘A world problem’: immigrant families hit by Covid jab gap

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Families spread across rich and poor countries are acutely aware of relatives’ lack of access to vaccine

For months she had been dreaming of it and finally Susheela Moonsamy was able to do it: get together with her relatives and give them a big hug. Throughout the pandemic she had only seen her siblings, nieces and nephews fully “masked up” at socially distanced gatherings. But a few weeks ago, as their home state of California pressed on with its efficient vaccination rollout, they could have a proper reunion.

“It was such an emotional experience, we all hugged each other; and with tears in our eyes, we thanked God for being with us and giving us the opportunity to see each other close up again and actually touch each other,” she says. “We never valued a hug from our family members that much before.”

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Climate crisis ‘may put 8bn at risk of malaria and dengue’

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Reducing global heating could save millions of people from mosquito-borne diseases, study finds

More than 8 billion people could be at risk of malaria and dengue fever by 2080 if greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise unabated, a new study says.

Malaria and dengue fever will spread to reach billions of people, according to new projections.

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Age, sex, vaccine dose, chronic illness – insight into risk factors for severe Covid is growing

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A look at the demographics as 18.5 million people in the UK fall into the heightened risk category

About 18.5 million individuals, or 24.4% of the UK population, are at increased risk of developing severe Covid because of underlying health conditions. It is well known that older people are at high risk, but the understanding of all the risk factors is incomplete. Experts say that this knowledge needs to develop at speed to support policy and planning given that social restrictions will end in England on 19 July.

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Coronavirus live news: Indonesia reports record 1,040 more deaths; China records highest cases since January

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Indonesia also reports record new infections for third day in a row; China reports 57 new cases in highest tally since 30 January

Australia will send 2.5m AstraZeneca vaccine doses to Indonesia and will fund 1,000 ventilators as the country battles record-high Covid cases that are pushing the health system to breaking point.

The aid package, announced on Wednesday night, is in response to growing calls for Australia to help its most populous neighbour.

Related: Australia to send 2.5m AstraZeneca vaccine doses to Indonesia as Covid infections soar

South Korea has reported its second highest number of daily cases, shortly after it began relaxing restrictions in some parts of the country.

Seoul, which is home to more than half of the country’s population, accounts for the majority of the 1,212 infections registered by midnight on Tuesday, leading officials to extend curbs on movement in capital for at least one more week, Reuters reports. Some 85% of the new locally transmitted infections were in in the Seoul metropolitan area.

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