The US will soon see surges in cases of the highly infectious Delta variant of Covid-19 in areas where vaccination rates are low, Anthony Fauci has predicted, calling resistance to vaccination “sad” and “tragic”.
Related: ‘The benefits outweigh the negatives’: US college students return to class
Continue reading...Proposals to extend Covid jabs to children in west would delay worldwide rollout, say experts, and allow deadly variants to develop elsewhere
Rich nations are sharing vaccines with low-income countries too slowly to prevent the spread of the Delta variant of Covid, risking millions of lives, the head of the World Health Organization has warned.
Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director general of the WHO, said the sharing of vaccines was “only a trickle, which is being outpaced by variants”, after it emerged that the Delta variant is now present in at least 98 countries.
Continue reading...BMA chair says easing restrictions not an ‘all or nothing decision’; Indonesia locks down Bali and Java in effort to curb surging infections
The UK government has confirmed that proposals to end the requirement to self-isolate for those who have received two doses of a coronavirus vaccine are under “consideration”.
Downing Street said it was looking at whether to drop all legal self-isolation measures for fully vaccinated people who come into contact with someone who is infected “as part of the post-Step 4 world”.
Hundreds of healthcare workers in Italy have launched a legal bid against the requirement that they get the Covid-19 vaccination, according to media reports.
The case, brought by professionals throughout northern Italy, will be heard on 14 July.
Continue reading...Tehran classified as ‘red zone’ as authorities struggle to import vaccines due to US sanctions
Iran’s president, Hassan Rouhani, has expressed fears that Iran will be hit by a new wave of Covid-19 due to an outbreak of the Delta variant in the Middle East’s hardest-hit country.
“It is feared that we are on the way to a fifth wave throughout the country,” Rouhani told a meeting of Iran’s anti-virus taskforce, warning the public to be careful as the Delta variant had entered the country from the south and south-east.
Continue reading...Expert warns that plans to drop all legal requirements after 19 July could lead to mass non-compliance
Allowing those who have received two doses of a Covid vaccine to skip quarantine could breed resentment and result in mass non-compliance, a scientific adviser has warned.
Downing Street has confirmed it is looking at whether to drop all legal self-isolation measures for fully vaccinated people who come into contact with someone who is infected “as part of the post-step 4 world”.
Continue reading...President says America has Covid-19 ‘on the run’ but new cases jumped 10% amid patchy take-up of vaccines across country
Joe Biden has warned that although America has Covid-19 “on the run” the latest variant is of particular concern among those who remain unvaccinated – as the president’s goal of 70% of US adults receiving at least one shot of vaccine by the Fourth of July holiday was set to fall short.
New US cases of coronavirus jumped by 10% in the past week as the highly contagious Delta variant spreads, especially where vaccination rates are low.
Continue reading...Israel says technical issues have scuppered deal to give UK Covid vaccines expiring on 30 July
More than a million Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine doses held in Israel that are due to expire at the end of July may be thrown away after attempts to broker a swap deal with the UK failed.
Israel had reportedly offered the jabs to Britain in return for a similar number of vaccines that the UK is due to receive from Pfizer in September. Health authorities are racing to vaccinate as many of its adult population as possible before Covid restrictions are lifted in England later this month.
Continue reading...Analysis: UK stands alone in pitting advanced vaccination programme against fast-spreading Delta variant
Not for the first time in the coronavirus pandemic, the UK finds itself in a unique position. Through a combination of history, biology, mathematics and politics, the country stands alone in pitting an advanced vaccination programme against a substantial wave of Covid driven almost entirely by the fast-spreading Delta variant.
Nowhere in the world is the race between vaccination and virus more keenly watched than here.
Continue reading...Scott Morrison announces four-step pandemic exit plan after meeting with state leaders. Follow latest update
Here’s some video from earlier today of prime minister Scott Morrison being asked by Guardian Australia’s Daniel Hurst about his position towards AstraZeneca:
The latest edition of Weekly Beast covers Chris Kenny doing a Peta Credlin, among other things:
Continue reading...President Bolsonaro linked to allegations of irregularities over $316m vaccine contract; Latest figures from South Africa show 24,270 new infections
Reuters has more on the story from earlier (see 20:24) that at least 26,000 doses of expired Covid jabs were used in Brazil.
Cities and regions have denied giving out the jabs, with one, the southern city of Maringá saying the out-of-date jabs only appeared on public databases due to delays in them being registered on the health ministry’s system.
In its latest global vaccination distribution, the US will donate 4 million doses of the Moderna Covid jab to Indonesia.
According to Reuters, the US national security adviser Jake Sullivan confirmed the news to the Indonesian foreign minister in a call earlier on Friday.
Continue reading...Regions speed up plans to vaccinate under-30s as more than 1,000 cases traced to Mallorca school trip
Authorities and health experts in Spain have called for prudence and responsibility amid a surge in cases among young people who are still waiting to be vaccinated after more than 1,000 Covid cases across the country were traced back to an end-of-year school trip to Mallorca.
Although more than a third of Spain’s 47 million people have been fully vaccinated against the coronavirus, case numbers have been rising over recent days – most notably among younger people still waiting to get their shots.
Continue reading...All eyes on Israel, as countries look to see if 85% vaccination rate there will prevent deaths during surge
New Covid cases in the World Health Organization’s 53-country European region rose 10% last week after falling for 10 straight weeks, the body has said, warning of a possible new surge before autumn and calling for more monitoring of Euro 2020 matches.
Infection numbers continue to fall in many parts of the region, including the EU, but Katy Smallwood, WHO Europe’s senior emergencies manager, said some – such as Russia – were recording their highest daily death tolls of the pandemic.
Continue reading...Gladys Berejiklian says half of new cases were active in the community while infectious; Simon Birmingham admits Australia is ‘back of the queue’ for Pfizer vaccines; Atagi co-chair says AstraZeneca should only be used by under-40s in ‘pressing’ circumstances; Follow latest updates
Ahead of the daily health press conference in Victoria, premier Daniel Andrews has said he is “determined” to avoid another lockdown in the state, and part of that will be arguing in national cabinet on Friday for a reduction in the number of people able to return through hotel quarantine.
He repeated that it was better to lock out a small number of people than lock down whole cities or states, particularly while Victoria will not have a dedicated quarantine facility up and running in Mickleham until January.
Talk to your doctor, talk to your pharmacist. They’re the people to talk to, because whether it’s Atagi or others, there can be very broad statements made. Safety is always a concern – they are risk averse, they need to be. But everyone’s individual circumstances are different, and many people come to this question of ‘should I, shouldn’t I’ when, what vaccine with pre-existing conditions, with all sorts of other issues. So the best thing to do is not to be getting your epidemiological or your vaccination advice from politicians.
Talk to your GP, that’s what I would ask Victorians to do.
NSW police commissioner Mick Fuller is up now:
In the last 24 hours, 65 personnel infringement notices were issued. One of those of concern was a hairdresser in Auburn in the shopping area of Auburn.
In the last 24 hours, 65 personnel infringement notices were issued. One of those of concern was a hairdresser in Auburn in the shopping area of Auburn.
What police will be doing is matching our taskings to those areas and places of concern on the health website, but in particular today I want to send a very clear message that we will double our efforts in terms of visibility and compliance in south-western Sydney, in particular, around that Auburn, Bankstown area, in those shopping areas, the central business areas, and also back to the eastern suburbs as well. The message is quite clear – police continue to be visible in the community, on public transport. We are stopping and proposing many people and, again, it is just disappointing that infringements continue to be issued.
Continue reading...President endorses domestic vaccine campaign but distances himself from tough measure
Vladimir Putin has for the first time said that he was inoculated with Russia’s own Sputnik V vaccine as he gave a careful endorsement of the country’s floundering campaign while distancing himself from tough new measures designed to pressure more Russians into taking the jabs.
Putin has cut a mercurial figure during the pandemic, intrepidly donning a medical suit to visit a coronavirus hospital last March and then shunning public events for months, prompting ridicule that he was sheltering in a “bunker”.
Continue reading...North Korean leader says there is ‘huge crisis’ in antivirus fight; French government’s leading scientific adviser blames Delta variant
The Associated Press has this dispatch from a prison in Florida, reporting that there are few suggestions that US correctional institutions have made significant reforms and changes to better deal with future waves of Covid infection after an estimated half a million people in prisons contracted the virus and 3,000 died.
Derrick Johnson had a makeshift mask. He had the spray bottle of bleach and extra soap that corrections officers provided. But he still spent every day crammed in a unit with 63 other men in a Florida prison, crowding into hallways on their way to meals and sleeping feet from one another at night.
As the coronavirus ravaged the Everglades Correctional Institution, Johnson was surrounded by the sounds of coughing and requests for Tylenol. And while he thought a lot of the prison’s policies were ineffective at protecting prisoners, he also wondered if that was the best the facility could do.
Vladimir Putin – who received the Russian Sputnik vaccine earlier this year (see entry at 10.39) – has said he is opposed to mandatory vaccinations in Russia despite a surge in coronavirus infections in the country.
“I do not support mandatory vaccinations,” Putin said on a phone-in broadcast on television, according to the AFP news agency.
Continue reading...NSW is bracing for an escalation in local Covid cases as the state government prepares a support package for businesses. Follow latest updates
Okay, so originally we were going to hear from the Queensland leaders at 9am, but this has been pushed back to 11am.
It’s unclear if this is because any big announcements are expected, but it’s worth noting the daily numbers for the state haven’t been published yet, which is a little unsual.
I brought you some quotes earlier from chief medical officer Paul Kelly’s interview with ABC.
Here is a clip if you are keen to hear the words straight from the source!
"AstraZeneca was always available for anyone, in terms of the regulation, from TGA, for anyone over the age of 18. There's a preference for Pfizer until the age of 60."
Chief Medical Officer @PKelly_CBR speaking to @lisamillar after another change to the vaccine rollout. pic.twitter.com/j3YZ3CAVPb
Oxford researchers say having AstraZeneca then Pfizer jabs is almost as potent as two shots of Pfizer
Having different Covid vaccines for first and second shots produces a strong immune response to the virus, according to research that will help improve the resilience of vaccine programmes around the world.
Scientists in Oxford looked at the impact of a mix-and-match approach to vaccinations where people were given either the standard two shots of Oxford/AstraZeneca or Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, or a combination of the two.
Continue reading...An $11m grant announced to pay for leave for aged care staff to be vaccinated; Darwin in lockdown after four cases; restrictions for WA and SA; Queensland makes masks mandatory in hotspots. Follow live
Well that was a press conference and a half.
Here’s a brief summary of the key things Scott Morrison announced:
Another decision out of national cabinet is an agreement to make it mandatory for all quarantine workers, including those working in transport, to be vaccinated. However, this will be the responsibility of the states and territories, not the commonwealth.
This announcement follows the case of a Sydney limousine driver transporting international air crews contracting Covid-19 while being unvaccinated, NSW police admitting this breached no public health orders.
Continue reading...Developed countries are seeing the benefits of quickly vaccinating their populations, but concerns remain about the unequal share of global vaccine supplies
New analysis by the Guardian has confirmed that a speedy Covid vaccination campaign pays off when it comes to escaping the worst of the pandemic.
As the chart below shows, countries such as Israel, the UK and the US have all seen deaths decline as vaccination coverage extended to the most vulnerable in their societies.
Continue reading...Misinformation and access issues combined with patriarchal social norms fuelling disparity in distribution across most states
Deep-rooted structural inequalities and patriarchal values are to blame for India’s worrying Covid vaccine gender gap, campaigners and academics have warned.
As of 25 June, of the 309m Covid vaccine doses delivered since January 2021, 143m were administered to women compared with nearly 167m to men, according to CoWin, India’s national statistics site – a ratio of 856 doses given to women for every 1,000 given to men. The difference is not accounted for by India’s gender imbalance of 924 women to 1,000 men.
Continue reading...