Category Archives: Coronavirus

Victoria to receive ‘surge’ of Pfizer, Moderna vaccine doses as 392 cases recorded – as it happened

Posted on by

Man in his 20s dies in NSW as state records 1,262 new cases; ACT records 15 new Covid cases. This blog is now closed

That’s where I will leave you for today. Here’s a wrap of what we learned:

NSW Labor leader Chris Minns has taken to twitter to slam the Berejiklian government for calling an end to the 11am daily press conferences.

“When I feel like I need to be accountable.”

❌ That’s not good enough.

Government accountability isn’t optional.

Reinstate the daily press conferences and bring back the parliament now.#nswpol #auspol

Continue reading...

Is it ethical to travel right now? Experts on flying in the age of Delta

Posted on by

Questions to consider before you inflict the ‘moral injury’ of a risky, nonessential trip

A new season is here and, with it, seedlings of holiday escape plans to some sun-drenched beach or snowy mountain ski slope. In view of passenger data from the US and the UK, air travel is on its way toward recovering from the slump of a pre-vaccine Covid-19 pandemic – despite the rise of the Delta variant.

But does that mean it’s a good idea to buy that plane ticket, even if you’re vaccinated? And if you’re comfortable assuming some degree of personal risk, is it unethical to do so?

Continue reading...

UK vaccine volunteers to help prepare for next virus at new Pandemic Institute

Posted on by

The Liverpool site will work with other international centres to research the threat of emerging disruptive diseases

A new scientific institute which aims to prevent future pandemics may have been able to save thousands of lives by accelerating vaccine development had it existed before December 2019, its researchers believe.

Liverpool’s new Pandemic Institute will include a new human challenge facility, where volunteers will test new vaccines and treatments under controlled conditions.

Continue reading...

In hindsight there was no foresight: how Australia bungled its Pfizer Covid deal

Posted on by

Missed opportunities, gaps in correspondence and a failure to plan ahead. If this was a vaccine race, did Australia fall at the first hurdle?

On 30 June 2020, Victoria’s Covid cases were doubling. Within a week the state would be in its second lockdown.

That same day Pfizer wrote to the federal health minister, Greg Hunt, with a clear sense of urgency, wanting to discuss a vaccination deal.

Continue reading...

Coronavirus live news: UK records a further 156 deaths; thousands protest in Turkey against Covid measures

Posted on by

Overall death toll for UK now stands at 134,144; more than 2,000 demonstrate in Istanbul against coronavirus mandates including vaccinations and masks

Police in Greece’s second city Thessaloniki fired tear gas at anti-vaccination protesters ahead of a keynote economic speech by prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

The police used tear gas and a water cannon to keep around 1,000 protesters away from the venue of the speech.

Continue reading...

Australia Covid news live update: NSW records 1,599 cases and eight deaths; Victoria reports 450 infections, ACT 15 and South Australia one

Posted on by

Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk reports five new cases and flags possible lockdown

While other states are still lacking enough supply to vaccinate those under 60 with Pfizer, South Australia is opening up Pfizer access to those over 60, AAP reports.

The premier, Steven Marshall, made the announcement less than 24 hours after the Northern Territory confirmed over-60s in the Top End could get the Pfizer jab.

Victoria’s health minister, Martin Foley, is asked to weigh in on New South Wales’ decision to stop holding daily press conferences from Monday.

Foley says holding daily press conferences is not fun, but it is important, and Victoria has no plans on abandoning them at the moment:

We have no plans, sadly, other than to continue to come and share as we need to, because every day the message changes, every day we need to hear from people like Ryan, and every day we need to hear from people like we did from the other day from our ICU nurses.

We need to hear what this means in real lives. And what that means. And it’s not fun, having to do these things. This is a public health crisis, the likes of which we have not seen in a century. The fate of our public health system is on the cusp here. And it’s important that we use this every opportunity.

Continue reading...

Biden tells Republicans threatening to sue over vaccine mandate: ‘Have at it’ – as it happened

Posted on by

South Carolina and Arizona governors decry ‘big government overreach’ after president orders larger businesses to demand employees be vaccinated

• Sign up to receive First Thing – our daily briefing by email

That’s it for me tonight. Thanks for reading along! Here’s some of what we covered:

Related: US Capitol rioter photographed wearing horns pleads guilty

pic.twitter.com/a3PWIGfB6Y

Tennessee’s controversial abortion law was blocked by a federal appeals court today, ruling that the measure was “constitutionally unsound”.

The law banned abortions after a fetal heartbeat can be detected, which typically occurs around 6 weeks into the pregnancy — often before many women know they are pregnant.

Appeals court strikes down Tennessee abortion restrictions, with Judge Thapar (a Trump appointee) writing lengthy partial dissent taking aim at Roe v. Wade: https://t.co/bZqizndvtJ pic.twitter.com/J1kcQRDBMn

Related: AOC on Texas governor’s ‘disgusting’ abortion remarks: ‘He is not familiar with a female body’

Continue reading...

Against all odds: how New Zealand is bending the Delta curve

Posted on by

The country’s goal of eliminating Covid transmission looks within reach – but health experts’ optimism is cautious

Less than a month ago, New Zealanders disappeared into their homes, retracting from the public domain like spilled water into a dry sponge. The motorways and city streets stood mostly empty, shops closed, schools and playgrounds were deserted. A single case of the highly contagious Delta variant had been detected and the government called a snap level-4 lockdown, introducing some of the strictest restrictions in the world.

It was a new threat for a country whose Covid-zero pandemic response had been ranked one of the best globally. New Zealand had never faced a Delta outbreak before, and no one knew if its past strategies would prove up to the task.

Continue reading...

France’s former health minister charged over handling of Covid crisis

Posted on by

Agnès Buzyn accused of ‘endangering the lives of others’ after early statements minimised risk of pandemic

France’s former health minister Agnès Buzyn has been charged over her handling of the Covid-19 pandemic after investigators at a special court in Paris concluded there were grounds to prosecute her.

Buzyn has been charged with “endangering the lives of others”, according to the prosecutor in a special court that deals with ministerial accountability. A second possible offence of “failure to stop a disaster” was not brought.

Continue reading...

Boys more at risk from Pfizer jab side-effect than Covid, suggests study

Posted on by

US researchers say teenagers are more likely to get vaccine-related myocarditis than end up in hospital with Covid

Healthy boys may be more likely to be admitted to hospital with a rare side-effect of the Pfizer/BioNTech Covid vaccine that causes inflammation of the heart than with Covid itself, US researchers claim.

Their analysis of medical data suggests that boys aged 12 to 15, with no underlying medical conditions, are four to six times more likely to be diagnosed with vaccine-related myocarditis than ending up in hospital with Covid over a four-month period.

Continue reading...

Israel to prosecute Hasidic pilgrims who faked negative Covid tests to fly home

Posted on by

Dozens of Hasidic Breslov pilgrims boarded planes in Ukraine with bogus paperwork, border officers say

Israel says it will prosecute dozens of pilgrims returning from Ukraine who flew back into the country with fake negative Covid test results.

The pilgrims had been attending the annual celebration of the Jewish new year, Rosh Hashanah, in the Ukrainian city of Uman, where Rabbi Nachman of Breslov, who founded the Hasidic Breslov sect in the early 19th century, is buried. He was a great-grandson of the founder of Hasidism.

Continue reading...

Scientists’ egos are key barrier to progress, says Covid vaccine pioneer

Posted on by

Prof Katalin Karikó of BioNTech says she endured decades of scepticism over her work on mRNA vaccines

Scientists would make swifter progress in solving the world’s problems if they learned to put their egos aside and collaborate better, according to the leading researcher behind the Pfizer/BioNTech Covid vaccine.

Prof Katalin Karikó, the senior vice-president for RNA protein replacement therapies at BioNTech in Germany, endured decades of scepticism over her work and was demoted and finally kicked out of her lab while developing the technology that made the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines possible.

Continue reading...

Coronavirus live news: Biden’s vaccine mandate for 100 million workers; Los Angeles requires students to be vaccinated

Posted on by

All US companies with more than 100 employees to ensure workers are vaccinated or tested weekly; LA mandates vaccines for 630,000 students 12 and older

BioNTech will request approval to use its Covid-19 vaccine in 5- to 11-year-olds within the next few weeks, the firm’s two top executives have said.

“Already over the next few weeks we will file the results of our trial in five to 11 year olds with regulators across the world and will request approval of the vaccine in this age group, also here in Europe,” chief medical officer Oezlem Tuereci told Der Spiegel.

Kenya’s economy has shrunk for the first time in three decades amid the coronavirus crisis, a government survey has shown. Almost 740,000 people have lost their jobs as a result.

The East African country’s gross domestic product dropped by 0.3% - the first contraction since 1992 - after growing 5% in 2019, the report said, as reported by AFP.

Continue reading...

Denmark lifts all Covid restrictions as vaccinations top 80%

Posted on by

Scandinavian country declares it no longer considers coronavirus a ‘socially critical’ disease

Denmark’s high vaccination rate has enabled it to become one of the first EU countries to lift all domestic restrictions, after 548 days with curbs in place to limit the spread of Covid-19,

The return to normality has been gradual, but as of Friday, the digital pass – a proof of having been vaccinated – is no longer required when entering nightclubs, making it the last virus safeguard to fall.

Continue reading...

Ivermectin: Australian regulator bans drug as Covid treatment after sharp rise in prescriptions

Posted on by

Therapeutic Goods Administration concerned people taking controversial medication instead of seeking proper treatment or vaccine

Australia’s drug regulator has banned medical practitioners from prescribing the anti-parasitic drug ivermectin for “off-label” uses, such as for treating Covid-19.

The move comes after prescriptions for the drug increased between three and four times in Australia in recent months.

Continue reading...

Biden: ‘Patience wearing thin with unvaccinated Americans’ – video

Posted on by

US president Joe Biden has announced new vaccination mandates for 100 million workers as he looks to stop the surge of Covid-19 across the country. Biden said said the Department of Labor is developing an emergency temporary standard that will require all employers with more than 100 employees to ensure their workers are vaccinated or tested weekly. 'Many of us are frustrated with the nearly 80 million Americans who are still not vaccinated even though the vaccine is safe, effective and free'.

Continue reading...

‘£3k just to hold the bed’: Exorbitant Covid care costs push Indians into poverty

Posted on by

A struggling healthcare system and inflated prices mean hospital treatment can result in a lifetime of debt for many

Anil Goel remembers the night in May when he received a call from his desperate nephew asking for money for his Covid treatment. The nephew had been admitted to a private hospital with his wife and four other family members with Covid complications but had used up all of his savings.

“I was shocked by the request as this was a young man who was doing well in life otherwise. But the high hospital bills and the black marketing just exhausted all of his savings within days. After all, six family members were on life support,” said Goel.

Continue reading...

Pfizer accused of holding Brazil ‘to ransom’ over vaccine contract demands

Posted on by

Leaked supply document reveals clauses to protect US pharma company from legal action in the event of serious side-effects

Pfizer has been accused of holding Brazil “to ransom” over demands to shield itself from possible vaccine side-effect lawsuits in its contract to supply the country with 100m Covid jabs.

In its $1bn (£700m) deal with Pfizer Export BV, signed in March, despite its prior complaints, the Brazilian government agreed that “a liability waiver be signed for any possible side-effects of the vaccine, exempting Pfizer from any civil liability for serious side-effects arising from the use of the vaccine, indefinitely”.

Continue reading...

‘Maybe the guy’s a masochist’: how Anthony Fauci became a superstar

Posted on by

The US diseases expert has been spoofed by Brad Pitt and lauded as the ‘sexiest man alive’. Now the pop culture phenomenon is the focus of a documentary

Beer and bobbleheads. Candles, colouring books, cupcakes and cushions. Dolls, doughnuts, hoodies, mugs and socks. T-shirts and yard signs that declare “Dr Fauci is my hero” and “In Fauci we trust”.

Anthony Fauci, an 80-year-old scientist, doctor and public servant, has become an unlikely cult hero for millions of people during the Covid pandemic.

Continue reading...

NSW Labor says Berejiklian must hold daily updates; Queensland to reinstate border bubble – as it happened

Posted on by

NSW confirms record high 1,542 cases; Victoria has linked 149 of its 334 new cases to known outbreaks. This blog is now closed

With that, we’ll wrap up the news blog for the day.

Here were the top headlines today:

Prof Sharon Lewin, director of the Doherty Institute that has provided modelling for Australia’s reopening plan agreed to by national cabinet, has responded to NSW’s roadmap to freedom that was unveiled this week.

Of the plan to reopen at 70% double vaccination in NSW, Lewin told ABC’s The Drum: “I think the with situation in NSW, I’d be going slowly, slowly”.

We will see interpretations that will vary around the country and I think that is going to cause confusion.”

When you don’t have optimal TTIQ then you’ve got to bring in public health measures. That’s why this slow exit from the lockdown is probably going to be important.

I think the biggest challenge for NSW at the moment is keeping an eye on the burden on the healthcare system.

Continue reading...