Wall Street Journal says regulator could authorize fourth shots of Pfizer and Moderna vaccines by the fall
US health regulators are looking at authorizing a potential fourth dose of a Covid-19 vaccine in the fall, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday, citing sources familiar with the matter.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has been reviewing data to authorize a second booster dose of vaccines from Pfizer and BioNTech and Moderna, the report added.
Continue reading...Construction crews from mainland China will help build isolation units, Carrie Lam said
Hong Kong reported 15 coronavirus deaths and more than 6,000 confirmed cases for a second day in a surge the Chinese territory’s leader says its overwhelming hospitals.
The government announced plans to have construction crews from mainland China build isolation units with 10,000 beds after crowding at hospitals forced patients to wait outdoors in winter cold.
Continue reading...As the new plan is set to be announced, here’s what might change, from testing to shielding
As Britain emerges from the Omicron wave, ministers are thrashing out a “living safely with Covid” plan for England expected to be announced next week. The strategy should see freedoms expanded back towards pre-pandemic norms in an attempt to readjust people’s attitudes towards coronavirus.
The decisions taken this weekend in Whitehall will have major repercussions for public health across the country. While vaccines have drastically blunted Covid hospitalisations and deaths, and restrictions came with significant downsides, lifting further measures is unlikely to come without a cost – particularly for those in vulnerable groups.
Continue reading...Western Australia premier says he will spend week in hotel quarantine to avoid perceptions he will benefit from timing of border reopening; SA election campaign officially begins
In Victoria over the past week, this is how Covid hospitalisation and ICU numbers have tracked, starting with today’s figures and working backwards: 365 (55 in ICU); 451 (64), 401 (78), 397 (68), 441 (67), 465 (66), 465 (62).
So in NSW over the past seven days, this is how hospitalisation and ICU numbers have tracked, starting with today’s figures and working backwards: 1297 (81 in ICU); 1381 (92); 1447 (92); 1478 (92); 1583 (96); 1649 (100) and 1614 (93).
Continue reading...Council chair says decision not guided by data or made in consultation with health profession
Ending all Covid restrictions is premature and “not based on current evidence”, the British Medical Association has said, as experts warned dropping testing and self-isolation could lead to a surge in cases.
Boris Johnson told MPs last week that he was preparing to lift the legal requirement in England to self-isolate on 24 February, a month earlier than originally planned, with a formal announcement expected on Monday.
Continue reading...Staff allowed ‘limited access’ before Sue Gray inquiry evidence passed to police
Downing Street staff being questioned by police about alleged lockdown breaches will be allowed to view notes on the evidence they gave to the Sue Gray inquiry.
Those spoken to as part of the Cabinet Office probe were told they could see the notes with a member of Gray’s team present but would not be allowed to bring a phone into the room, to be accompanied by a lawyer, or to request any changes.
Continue reading...Egypt, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa and Tunisia first countries to be assisted by global mRNA hub
Six African countries – Egypt, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa and Tunisia – will be the first on the continent to receive the technology needed to produce their own mRNA vaccines from a scheme headed by the World Health Organization.
The groundbreaking project aims to assist low- and middle-income countries in manufacturing mRNA vaccines at scale and according to international standards, with the aim of ending much of the reliance of African countries on vaccine manufacturers outside the continent.
Continue reading...Forgotten how to behave in public? As Covid restrictions lift, a quick refresher on everyday encounters from shaking hands to sharing drinks
Recently, while out for drinks and sharing plates, a friend reached over and took a sip of my cocktail. There are key parts of this anecdote that still, two years into the push–pull of pandemic guidance, strike nervousness into me. They include the words “dinner”, “friend”, “sharing plates”, not to mention the thought of a bathroom where there’s nice soap but the water from the tap still comes out cold and for some reason there’s no dainty way of opening the door once you’ve washed your hands, so you just have to grab the door handle with your newly washed hand, which seems to instantly negate the point of washing the hands. But the crucial information here is that I had a very nice negroni in front of me, and they wanted to try it, so they took the glass and raised it to their lips and took a sip.
In 2019, I would not have minded. That’s because All This hadn’t happened, and I considered myself fairly normal. This is no longer true. I have forgotten how to talk to anyone. How to greet people. How to meet new people. How to sit in an office. A lot of people forgot how to talk back to me, too. Restrictions are easing up, but people aren’t necessarily doing the same. So I spoke to some experts to get some guidance.
Continue reading...Celebrated blogger had suffered ill health after spending 17 months in prison for speaking out against president Ali Bongo
Hervé Mombo Kinga, the pro-democracy activist and celebrated blogger who spent 17 months in jail for insulting the Gabonese president, Ali Bongo Ondimba, was not impressed when he saw the pictures of the leader limping up the stairs of France’s presidential palace.
Kinga, who died last week at 47 after contracting Covid, was infuriated by the episode – widely shared in the west African country of Gabon, despite the embarrassment it caused the president, whose family has held power for more than five decades.
Continue reading...Lawmakers including Ron Paul and Ron DeSantis say they would back disruption of a Canadian-style trucker convoy
In the wake of racial justice protests following the murder of George Floyd, a wave of Republican lawmakers supported legislation to punish protesters who blocked roads. Now some of those same Republicans are supporting similar tactics from conservative trucker convoys protesting against vaccine mandates.
Last year, the Florida governor, Ron DeSantis, signed an anti-rioting law that stiffened penalties for protesters who blocked roads and even gave some legal protection to drivers who ran them over. It went so far that in September a federal judge struck down the law, ruling it unconstitutional.
Continue reading...A policy of admitting every positive case to hospital means thousands are being added to an already huge backlog every day
The beds pile up outside Hong Kong’s Caritas hospital. In the cold night, elderly patients lie on gurneys covered with blankets and thermal foil sheets. A woman in pink folds her arms against the chill, while another reaches across her bed in an apparent gesture of comfort to a neighbour. Nearby, others crowd into yellow and blue spillover tents lining the car park edges. The hospital staff attend people calling out when they can but they are outnumbered. Wails from patients carry through the air.
There are similar scenes across the city, where 11 public hospitals were operating at or beyond capacity as of Friday. Private hospitals refuse to take Covid patients. Photos supplied to the Guardian show a treatment room inside one hospital earlier this week (88% capacity) with gurneys three deep across the thoroughfare, on a floor strewn with garbage. Bathrooms that no one has had time to clean were soiled with faeces, dirt and discarded biohazard bags.
Continue reading...Premier Mark McGowan announces border reopening date; Bob Katter raises concerns over gun trafficking bill; at least 39 Covid deaths recorded; PM says federal government had no power ‘to prevent’ Port of Darwin sale; ACT to ease restrictions from tonight. Follow all the day’s news
Deputy opposition leader Richard Marles was on Today earlier alongside Peter Dutton, discussing Ukraine and the week in parliament.
Karl Stefanovic:
Richard ... it’s been a big week. The PM labelled you in parliament the Manchurian candidate, you little Chinese spy, you, hey?
(Laughs) Well, obviously not. But I think tossing around patriotism in that way and using it as a political football, I mean ... I’m not particularly hurt by it but it does pay quite a disrespect, I think, to those men and women who we ask to put on a uniform each and every day and to literally put their lives on the line for that very concept.
These are really encouraging numbers and yes, of course, hours worked were down to the Omicron shock and the fact that more people have been getting more jobs. We can expect things to ramp up very quickly as we get the lifting of restrictions, the opening of international borders and get back to normal.
We’ve already got the borders open to those skilled moderate workers and backpackers ... this is all about making sure we get more jobs back, maintain the growth and get that 4.8% figure potentially even down to a number starting with three.
Continue reading...Justin Trudeau says ‘high time these illegal and dangerous activities stop’ after nearly three weeks in Canadian capital
Truckers who have blockaded downtown Ottawa for nearly three weeks have defied a growing police presence in the Canadian capital and ignored repeated warnings that they could face steep fines and possible arrest.
Officers had warned of an impending crackdown on Thursday, as busloads of police reinforcements arrived in the city and work crews took the rare step of erecting metal fences outside the senate and parliament.
Continue reading...The latest statistic hints at the breadth of Covid-19’s impact on health in the United States
There have been more than 1m excess deaths in the US during the pandemic, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The deaths are mainly attributable to Covid-19, as well as conditions that may have resulted from delayed medical care and overwhelmed health systems.
Continue reading...Merilyn Saunders, who loved sport, music and, above all, her family, spent her final two years almost entirely in isolation
Merilyn Saunders loved sport, music, dressing up and, most of all, her family.
The Melbourne grandmother died alone after contracting Covid in her aged care facility in January.
Continue reading...Israel’s PM says ‘green pass’ system to be suspended as cases decline; Hong Kong to make up to 10,000 hotel rooms available for Covid cases
Hello everyone. It’s Léonie Chao-Fong here again, taking over the live blog from Tom Ambrose to bring you all the latest global developments on the coronavirus pandemic. Feel free to get in touch on Twitter or via email.
We start with the news that the UK government may announce an end to the provision of free lateral flow tests (LFTs) next week. James Heappey, the armed forces minister, has suggested Boris Johnson may scrap free do-at-home tests when he outlines his “living with Covid” plan.
I think that is the direction of travel but the prime minister will shortly announce his conclusions on that.
It’s still important that people test if they have symptoms or if they’re going to see someone vulnerable.
If you take away free tests, that will … make it worse in the long run. It’s not good to get rid of free tests on health grounds nor is it economically the right thing to do.
Continue reading...Authorities warn against surreptitious use of authorized vaccines for younger children due to no safety and efficacy data
As news broke recently that the Covid vaccine for children under five would be delayed in the US amid ongoing clinical trials, a call to make the vaccines off-label for use among those children gained force – but officials caution against vaccinating young children without any safety or efficacy data for this age group.
When providers sign an agreement to provide Covid-19 vaccine shots, they also agree not to give the vaccine off-label, or use it for purposes other than what it was approved to do.
Continue reading...Sajid Javid expected to push to retain some free testing against Treasury demand to slash budget
Cabinet splits have emerged over the government’s “living with Covid” strategy, with Sajid Javid expected to push to retain some free testing and community surveillance of the virus in the face of a Treasury demand to slash the budget.
Ministers including the health secretary and the chancellor, Rishi Sunak, are expected to meet on Thursday to discuss the strategy before it is announced next week.
Continue reading...Reports say PM will raise caps on arrivals and shorten quarantine times amid complaints that tough measures were worsening chronic labour shortage
Japan is to ease its strict border controls from next month, media reports said on Thursday, after criticism from students, workers and family members who have been in effect “locked out” of the country for up to two years.
The restrictions, which limit arrivals to Japanese citizens and returning foreign residents, have affected 150,000 students, triggering accusations from politicians and business leaders that the ban is damaging the country’s economy and international image.
Continue reading...Swiss shops, restaurants and cultural institutions will not require Covid certificate from Thursday; UK reports a further 199 Covid-linked deaths
British ministers’ plans to scale back free PCR Covid tests could weaken the UK’s defences if a new variant of the virus emerges that results in “significant new waves” of cases, a group representing local public health chiefs has warned.
Before a meeting of cabinet ministers and the prime minister later this week to discuss the “learning to live with Covid” strategy, the Association of Public Health Directors (APHD) said that forcing people to pay for lateral flow tests would also have a “detrimental impact” on take-up, particularly among disadvantaged communities.
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