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COVID-19 news update Sep/16
source:World Traditional Medicine Forum 2021-09-16 [Medicine]

 

 

 

 

 

 

Country, Total New Total
Other Cases Cases Deaths
World 227,222,667 563,418 4,672,402
USA 42,479,780 164,509 685,023
India 33,345,873 30,361 443,960
Brazil 21,034,610 14,780 588,640
UK 7,312,683 30,597 134,647
Russia 7,194,926 18,841 195,041
France 6,926,604 9,144 115,829
Turkey 6,738,890 28,224 60,641
Iran 5,360,387 19,731 115,619
Argentina 5,232,358 2,510 113,969
Colombia 4,934,568 1,570 125,753
Spain 4,922,249 3,723 85,638
Italy 4,618,040 4,830 130,100
Indonesia 4,178,164 3,948 139,682
Germany 4,117,263 13,047 93,397
Mexico 3,528,972 12,929 269,015
Poland 2,895,225 769 75,454
South Africa 2,869,201 4,667 85,469
Ukraine 2,325,796 4,640 54,550
Philippines 2,282,931 16,909 35,741
Peru 2,163,312 1,018 198,860
Malaysia 2,030,935 19,495 22,009
Netherlands 1,977,016 2,354 18,090
Iraq 1,963,264 3,895 21,631
Czechia 1,684,357 556 30,421
Japan 1,650,198 6,157 16,894
Chile 1,645,233 401 37,261
Canada 1,559,410 4,289 27,305
Bangladesh 1,536,341 1,901 27,058
Thailand 1,420,340 13,798 14,765
Pakistan 1,212,809 2,727 26,938
Belgium 1,212,106 1,725 25,477
Israel 1,202,212 5,219 7,452
Sweden 1,142,770   14,698
Romania 1,130,586 4,004 35,215
Portugal 1,058,347 1,247 17,882
Morocco 910,991 2,642 13,729
Kazakhstan 848,318 2,930 10,491
Serbia 838,512 7,628 7,633
Switzerland 818,710 2,604 11,010
Hungary 816,222 371 30,114
Jordan 810,559 1,116 10,574
Nepal 780,824 1,332 10,991
Cuba 768,497 7,437 6,523
UAE 730,743 608 2,068
Austria 715,893 2,624 10,856
Tunisia 696,279 873 24,337
Vietnam 645,640 10,585 16,186
Greece 622,761 2,406 14,311
Lebanon 615,532 844 8,218
Georgia 587,551 2,515 8,347
Saudi Arabia 546,251 88 8,640
Guatemala 519,986 4,230 12,859
Belarus 508,514 1,923 3,953
Ecuador 505,628   32,491
Costa Rica 499,461 2,725 5,889
Sri Lanka 496,423 5,466 11,699
Bolivia 495,612 340 18,603
Bulgaria 477,161 1,862 19,809
Azerbaijan 463,326   6,167
Panama 463,086 316 7,159
Paraguay 459,461 70 16,118
Myanmar 438,951 2,424 16,784
Kuwait 410,960 59 2,435
Slovakia 399,978 760 12,566
Uruguay 387,156 128 6,045
Croatia 386,891 1,835 8,463
Palestine 377,134 2,366 3,856
Ireland 368,712   5,155
Honduras 354,970 1,329 9,400
Dominican Republic 354,169 282 4,022
Denmark 353,431 370 2,617
Venezuela 350,795 1,064 4,245
Libya 327,803 1,433 4,469
Ethiopia 327,066 1,687 5,035
Lithuania 311,181 1,328 4,743
Oman 303,268 45 4,090
Egypt 294,482 531 16,908
Slovenia 279,219 1,366 4,479
S. Korea 277,989 2,079 2,380
Moldova 277,854 1,153 6,559
Bahrain 273,977 61 1,388
Mongolia 263,446 2,737 1,066
Armenia 250,559 756 5,056
Kenya 244,826 446 4,949
Qatar 235,054 159 604
Bosnia and Herzegovina 223,957 1,030 10,131
Zambia 208,161 112 3,636
Algeria 200,770 242 5,630
Nigeria 200,356 299 2,640
North Macedonia 184,893 616 6,339
Norway 179,450 969 841
Kyrgyzstan 177,389 81 2,578
Uzbekistan 166,025 604 1,169
Botswana 165,644   2,337
Albania 159,423 992 2,557
Afghanistan 154,361 78 7,183
Mozambique 149,671 191 1,898
Latvia 148,485 697 2,628
Estonia 147,881 525 1,315
Finland 134,827 522 1,051
Suriname 35,208 571 780
Aruba 15,155 26 156

 

Retrieved from:  https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/

 

 

 

FDA staff say Pfizer COVID-19 boosters may not be needed, but do improve immunity

By Michael Erman

 

A vial labelled with the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine is seen in this illustration picture taken March 19, 2021. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration

A vial labelled with the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine is seen in this illustration picture taken March 19, 2021. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration

 

U.S. Food and Drug Administration scientists said on Wednesday that booster doses of Pfizer's (PFE.N) COVID-19 vaccine may not be needed, even though the third shot generates a higher immune response in recipients.

The FDA staff members said in a document prepared for outside advisors that it is still unproven that the efficacy of Comirnaty - the COVID-19 vaccine Pfizer developed with Germany's BioNTech SE - is declining.

"Some observational studies have suggested declining efficacy of Comirnaty over time against symptomatic infection or against the Delta variant, while others have not," they said in the document.

"However, overall, data indicate that currently U.S.-licensed or authorized COVID-19 vaccines still afford protection against severe COVID-19 disease and death in the United States."

The FDA staff did say the booster dose met pre-specified conditions the regulator had set to show that the shot was generating an immune response.

However, they said in the document that licensure for the boosters should also consider ability to prevent hospitalization and death, as well as the dynamics of the pandemic in the United States.

The agency released the document on Wednesday for consideration by a committee of outside experts who will meet on Friday to decided whether to recommend if U.S regulators should approve the extra round of shots.

The FDA staff view reflects that of many scientists who have questioned whether the boosters are necessary broadly, even as President Joe Biden has pushed for the additional shots in the face of surging hospitalizations and deaths caused by the highly contagious Delta variant of the coronavirus.

Biden set a Sept. 20 target to begin administering 100 million booster shots in the United States.

After the FDA meets, a panel of advisors to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is planning to meet next week to make its recommendation, according to White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki.

PFIZER ARGUES BOOSTER APPROVAL

Pfizer, in a document it prepared for the meeting, argued that U.S. regulators should approve a booster shot of its vaccine for use six months after the second dose due to waning effectiveness over time.

Pfizer said data from its own clinical trials showed that the vaccine's efficacy diminished by around 6% every two months after the second dose. It also said the incidence of breakthrough COVID-19 cases in that trial was higher among people who received their shots earlier.

The company also pointed to real world data from Israel and the United States showing declining effectiveness of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine.

The U.S drugmaker said in a roughly 300-participant clinical trial, the third dose generated a better immune response than the second. It also pointed to data from the booster program recently started in Israel to show that a third dose restores high levels of protection from the virus.

Earlier this week, two top FDA vaccine scientists were among the authors of an article saying they do not believe the current data supports giving the shots. One of those scientists - Marion Gruber, director of the FDA's Office of Vaccines Research and Review - will be speaking at Friday's meeting.

Some U.S. officials are hoping boosters might prevent mild cases and reduce transmission of the virus as well as reducing COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths, which could hasten America's recovery.

Some countries have already begun COVID-19 booster campaigns. The United States authorized extra shots for people with vulnerable immune systems last month.

 

Retrieved from:  https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/pfizer-says-third-covid-19-shot-warranted-fda-document-2021-09-15/

 

 

 

Hong Kong panel recommends single dose of BioNTech's COVID-19 shot for teenagers

 

A sign is seen at a community vaccination centre during the coronavirus outbreak in Hong Kong, China February 22, 2021. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu

 

A panel of health experts advising the Hong Kong government has recommended children aged 12-17 should get only one dose of BioNTech's (22UAy.DE) COVID-19 vaccine after reports of heart inflammation side effects.

Professor Lau Yu-lung, who chairs a health committee advising the government on its vaccination programme, told public broadcaster RTHK the side effect was more prevalent than originally thought.

He said experts therefore decided it was better for teenagers to get only one dose to "greatly reduce the chance of heart inflammation."

The city's Department of Health did not provide data on how many cases of heart inflammation side effects have been reported.

But RTHK said that more than 30 teenagers suffered inflammation of the heart since the government started administering the shot to those over 12 from June.

Hong Kong has been using two COVID-19 vaccines including Sinovac's (SVA.O)shot vaccinating adults, but teenagers are eligible to take the BioNTech vaccine only.

More than 50% of those aged 12-17 have been vaccinated but the government has not said how many doses have been administered so far.

Regulators in the United States, the European Union and the World Health Organization have said that mRNA vaccines from BioNTech/Pfizer (PFE.N) and by Moderna (MRNA.O) are associated with rare cases of myocarditis or pericarditis, but that the benefits of the shots outweigh any risks.

Myocarditis is an inflammation of the heart muscle that can limit the organ's ability to pump blood and can cause changes in heartbeat rhythms. Pericarditis is an inflammation of the lining around the heart.

Pfizer has said it  recognised there could be rare reports of myocarditis after vaccinations, but such side effects were extremely rare.

BioNTech and its Chinese sales agent Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical Group (600196.SS) did not immediately reply to Reuters' requests for comment.

The risk of myocarditis was 18.5 per million doses given among people aged 18 to 24 after their second Pfizer dose and 20.2 per million for that age group among Moderna second dose recipients. The risk decreases with age, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Around 65% of Hong Kong's residents have had their first vaccine dose, but the take up amongst elderly people remain low due to concerns of side effects.

Hong Kong has largely controlled the coronavirus with no locally transmitted cases in many weeks. The Asian financial hub has recorded around 12,100 cases in total and 213 deaths.

 

Retrieved from:  https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/hong-kong-panel-recommends-single-dose-biontechs-covid-19-shot-teenagers-2021-09-16/

 

 

 

White House plans new system for international travel, contract tracing rules

By David Shepardson

 

White House COVID-19 Response Coordinator Jeff Zients delivers remarks during a press briefing at the White House in Washington, U.S., April 13, 2021. REUTERS/Tom Brenner

White House COVID-19 Response Coordinator Jeff Zients delivers remarks during a press briefing at the White House in Washington, U.S., April 13, 2021. REUTERS/Tom Brenner

 

The United States is developing a "new system for international travel" that will include contact tracing for when it eventually lifts travel restrictions that bar much of the world's population from entering the country, a senior White House official said on Wednesday.

White House coronavirus response coordinator Jeff Zients told the U.S. Travel and Tourism Advisory Board the administration does not plan to immediately relax any travel restrictions citing COVID-19 Delta variant cases in the United States and around the world.

Reuters first reported early in August that the White House was developing vaccine entry requirements that could cover nearly all foreign visitors. The White House previously confirmed it was considering mandating vaccines for foreign international visitors.

"The American people need to trust that the new system for international travel is safer even as we - I mean at that point - we'll be letting in more travelers," Zients said on Wednesday, adding it will eventually replace existing restrictions.

"We are exploring considering vaccination requirements for foreign nationals traveling to the United States," Zients said.

Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said at the same meeting that the spike in COVID-19 cases is preventing lifting international travel restrictions. "We want to move to a metrics-based system," Raimondo said. "Before we can do that, we have to get a better handle on the domestic situation, which requires us to get everyone vaccinated."

Zients said the new plan would replace the current restrictions and would be "safer, stronger and sustainable." He did not lay out specific metrics for when the administration might relax restrictions.

"Vaccination rates matter here at home and other countries," Zients said, urging travel companies like airlines to quickly mandate employee vaccines.

Some industry officials fear the Biden administration may not lift travel restrictions for months or potentially until 2022.

The extraordinary U.S. travel restrictions were first imposed on China in January 2020 to address the spread of COVID-19. Numerous other countries have been added, most recently India, in May.

The administration wanted to lift travel restrictions "as soon as we can," Zients said.

CONTACT TRACING

Zients said the new system will include collecting contact tracing data from passengers traveling into the United States to enable the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to contact travelers if exposed to COVID-19.

The Trump administration in 2020 blocked an effort to require airlines to collect contact tracing information from U.S.-bound international passengers after some senior administration officials cited privacy concerns.

Zients said they want the new system to be "ready to press go on" when it is safe to lift restrictions. "We get the importance of this," Zients said.

The United States currently bars most non-U.S. citizens who within the last 14 days have been in the United Kingdom, the 26 Schengen countries in Europe without border controls, Ireland, China, India, South Africa, Iran and Brazil.

The United States separately bars non-essential travel by most non-U.S. citizens at U.S. land borders with Mexico and Canada.

Critics say restrictions no longer make sense because some countries with high rates of COVID-19 infections are not on the restricted list while some countries on the list have the pandemic under control.

 

Retrieved from:  https://www.reuters.com/world/us/white-house-plans-new-system-international-travel-2021-09-15/

 

 

 

Singapore reports highest one-day Covid case total in more than a year

By Helen Sullivan

 

Bus passengers in face masks in Singapore on Tuesday. Photograph: Roslan Rahman/AFP/Getty Images

 

Singapore has reported its highest one-day Covid case total in more than a year, with 837 cases recorded on Tuesday.

In response to the growing outbreak, the government has paused reopening plans and reimposed some restrictions.

As of Tuesday, a total of 809 people were in hospital. Of these, 75 were seriously ill and required oxygen, and nine were in intensive care. The majority of seriously ill patients were older than 66, according to the Ministry of Health.

Eighty-one per cent of the population is fully vaccinated – excluding under-12s, it is 90% – and the number of seriously ill patients is fairly low overall. Only four people have died in the past 28 days, all of whom were unvaccinated, according to the health ministry.

However, the number of those seriously ill is increasing. The number of patients requiring oxygen doubled to 54 on Sunday from two days before, an important gauge to judge whether the medical system could get overwhelmed.

 

 

 

Putin to spend 'a few days' in Covid self-isolation

 

Vladimir Putin in his office in the Novo-Ogaryovo residence. Photograph: Alexei Druzhinin/Tass

 

Vladimir Putin has said he will have to spend “a few days” in self-isolation after dozens of people in his entourage fell ill with Covid-19, the Tass news agency reported.

Putin was speaking through a video link at a summit of a Russia-led security bloc which was held in Tajikistan. He had planned to attend in person before the news of the virus outbreak in his inner circle this week.

It was previously unclear how big the outbreak was and how long Putin would remain isolated.

“This is not just one person or two people, there are dozens of people,” he said.
“And now I have to remain in self-isolation for a few days.”

 

 

Summary

 

Here’s a roundup of the key developments:

· The European Union’s chief executive has warned that Covid vaccinations must be accelerated to avoid “a pandemic of the unvaccinated”. Speaking in Strasbourg, Ursula von der Leyen said in her state of the union address: “Let’s do everything possible [so] that this does not turn into a pandemic of the unvaccinated.”

· Italy is to make a Covid-19 “green pass” mandatory for public and private sector workers, a minister said on Wednesday, becoming the first European country to do so as it tries to accelerate vaccination rates and stamp out infections.

· Thousands of unvaccinated French health workers face suspension without pay from Wednesday under a new Covid-19 law that punishes people in care professions who refuse to get immunised against the virus.

· Covid restrictions to the UK will return if the virus gets “out of control” again this year, the health secretary has said, with a dangerous new variant or the NHS at risk of being overwhelmed identified as the moment “plan B” could be triggered.

· A surge in coronavirus cases has pushed the healthcare system in the Canadian province of Alberta to the verge of collapse, as healthcare workers struggle against mounting exhaustion and a growing anti-vaccine movement in the region.

· Republican lawmakers in over half of US states have removed powers to protect the public against infectious diseases since the start of the pandemic, reports Kaiser Health News. A review by the news organisation found that at least 26 states have passed laws that permanently weaken government powers to protect public health.

· The director general of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, has condemned the lack of distribution of Covid vaccines to African countries and called for stronger medical manufacturing capacity across the continent.

· Singapore has reported its highest one-day Covid case total in more than a year, with 837 cases recorded on Tuesday. In response to the growing outbreak, the government has paused reopening plans and reimposed some restrictions.

· The WHO special envoy for the global coronavirus response, David Nabarro, has praised the UK’s approach of “learning to live with the virus” but criticised the government for giving booster shots and doses to 12- to 15-year-olds.

· The European Union is donating an additional 200m vaccine doses to other countries in a bid to speed up global immunisation. EU chief executive Ursula von der Leyen has pledged to add to the 250m doses already promised with a further 200m doses by the middle of next year.

· Pfizer has said US regulators should approve a booster dose of the vaccine it developed with Germany’s BioNTech six months after the second dose, due to waning effectiveness of the shot over time, Reuters reports.

· The US is pushing for global leaders to support a target to get 70% of the world’s population vaccinated against Covid by 2022 in a bid to end the pandemic, according to a draft document seen by Reuters.

· The UK health secretary Sajid Javid has said that people in the public eye should be “very careful with their language” after Nicki Minaj drew widespread condemnation for spreading Covid misinformation on Twitter.

· Javid has said there are “no risk-free decisions” as he defended the government’s “sensible” autumn and winter plan. Asked why the government has not immediately introduced its more restrictive “plan B” amid warnings of a surge in hospitalisations, he told Sky News that although it is “right for the government to reassure people we have a plan”, vaccines are the “first line of defence”.

· Healthcare staff in England can decide whether children get a Covid vaccine against the wishes of their parents, according to government guidelines published on Wednesday that left some headteachers fearing protests at the school gates.

· Rates of Covid-19 have risen by a third in North America over the past week, due to surges in the US and Canada, where new infections have doubled in the province of Alberta, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) said on Wednesday.

· More than four million people stopped wearing face coverings in public in the UK this summer, official figures have revealed as a senior government scientific adviser warned Tuesday’s maskless cabinet meeting would be “toxic” to already falling public adherence to guidance.

· Vaccination clinics in England have been given orders to be ready to start delivering boosters jabs “as soon as possible”. NHS chiefs in England have sent a letter to all local health organisations providing instructions for an imminent start to the booster campaign, PA news reports.

I’m signing off now. Thanks so much for joining me today. This blog will be staying live but we are pausing for a while so please check back later.

 

Retrieved from:  https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2021/sep/15/coronavirus-live-news-france-health-worker-vaccine-mandate-comes-into-effect-healthcare-rationing-imminent-for-idaho