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Retrieved from: https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/
U.S. President Joe Biden speaks at the Medals of Honor ceremony in Washington, U.S., December 16, 2021. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein
U.S. President Joe Biden warned on Thursday that the Omicron variant of the coronavirus is going to spread more rapidly in the United States and that a winter of severe illness and death awaits the unvaccinated.
Getting an update on the pandemic from top health advisers, Biden also said it is past time for people to get booster shots and urged them to do so as quickly as possible.
“We are looking at a winter of severe illness and death” for the unvaccinated, Biden said.
At least 36 states have reported confirmed Omicron cases, officials from the Centers for Disease Control said on Wednesday.
“If you’re vaccinated and have your booster shot, you’re protected from severe illness and death," Biden said.
Biden said the Omicron variant had not spread as fast in the United States as it could have thanks to his administration’s policies. “It’s here now. It is spreading and it’s going to increase.”
“Get your booster shot. It’s critically important," he said.
Retrieved from: https://www.reuters.com/world/us/biden-says-its-past-time-people-get-booster-shots-2021-12-16/
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen addresses a news conference after an EU Summit in Brussels, Belgium December 16, 2021. Geert Vanden Wijngaert/Pool via REUTERS
European Commission is recommending vaccinated people receive booster doses no more than six months after their initial shots, with a further three month grace period for their COVID travel passes to be valid.
Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Friday she had told EU leaders meeting for a summit in Brussels that the EU executive would present a delegated act on COVID passes.
"We will ensure a common approach on boosters and the length of validity of the certificate. So boosters are recommended at the latest six months after full vaccination, and the certificate will remain valid for a grace period of three months beyond this."
Retrieved from: https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/eu-commission-head-says-booster-shots-should-come-within-six-months-2021-12-17/
By Clara-Laeila Laudette
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson visits a National Health Service (NHS) coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccination centre near Ramsgate, Britain, December 16, 2021. Leon Neal/Pool via REUTERS
Britain expects to have antiviral COVID-19 pills produced by Merck & Co Inc (MRK.N) and Pfizer (PFE.N) available over the winter, its Antiviral Taskforce Chair said on Thursday, as Omicron continues its lightning advance through the country.
Eddie Gray told reporters he expected both Merck's molnupiravir and Pfizer's paxlovid treatments to be available throughout the winter period, which he defined as between now and the end of March. Britain has yet to approve paxlovid.
"If there's a successful approval of paxlovid we'll want to fold that into the PANORAMIC process," Gray said, referring to a U.K. clinical trial examining the real-world efficacy of antiviral treatments against Omicron within a highly-vaccinated population.
Britain last month became the first country to approve monulpiravir, jointly developed with Ridgeback Biotherapeutics and for which Merck says it has signed deals totalling more than 7 million courses. read more
PANORAMIC is currently underway, trialling Merck's pill in COVID-19 patients at risk of serious illness in a bid to avoid hospitals overloading. It has enlisted more than 250 people out of a target of 10,000 subjects, Gray said.
"Early treatment in the community could have the furthest reach and impact here," chief investigator Professor Chris Butler told reporters. "Diminishing the burden on hospitals and getting people recovering quicker is the next phase in this area of research."
Recent data from separate trials, however, showed the drug only reduced hospitalisations and deaths among high-risk patients by around 30% - compared with 89% for rival Pfizer's paxlovid. Britain has purchased 500,000 monulpiravir doses.
Asked why PANORAMIC did not simply pivot to testing paxlovid's efficacy, professor Butler told reporters: "It's not yet approved and not yet available - evidence emerging for paxlovid has been subsequent to monulpiravir, hence the lag between the two."
"It's a question of getting on with what's available."
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The hope is that PANORAMIC will shed light on which COVID-19 palliatives reduce hospitalisation rates, prevent severe cases, sidestep immune resistance, and prove cost-effective.
Whether such drugs could be used to protect people from becoming ill after being exposed to a positive case - known as post-exposure prophylaxis - is another possibility scientists and regulators are keen to explore.
"Antivirals will be a way of dealing with COVID-19 over the winter and in the long run, as well as answering questions like efficacy as a post-exposure prophylaxis," said Professor Phil Evans of the National Institute of Health Research.
The monulpiravir treatment is still under review by the European Medicines Agency, but the EU drug regulator issued advice in November on using it for older adults ahead of providing any wider recommendation. read more
The EMA said on Thursday European Union countries can use paxlovid early after diagnosis of an infection even though its full review for regulatory approval has not been completed. read more
Both paxlovid and monulpiravir work by impairing the coronavirus's replication, sparking hope that such a mechanism could prove effective against other mRNA viruses like SARS and MERS according to NHSE (National Health Service England) Dr David Lowe.
Retrieved from: https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/britain-banking-covid-antivirals-get-through-omicron-winter-2021-12-16/
apanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Friday spoke with the country's biggest supplier of COVID-19 vaccines amid media reports he will seek to speed up the booster shot programme.
Chief government spokesman Hirokazu Matsuno confirmed the talks between Kishida and Pfizer Inc CEO Albert Bourla, saying the prime minister will explain his plan later on Friday evening.
The government wants to speed up vaccine imports and shorten the time between the first two shots and the booster, from eight months to six months, the Jiji news service reported, citing government sources.
Although COVID-19 cases have fallen dramatically since a deadly wave in August, there is growing concern about the Omicron variant, which has been found more than 30 times in Japan during airport screening and quarantine.
Japan has contracted to receive 120 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine next year and had about 16 million in stock as of this month. On Thursday, the government officially approved Moderna Inc's (MRNA.O) COVID-19 vaccine for its booster programme, which has so far covered just 0.1% of the population.
After a relatively late start, Japan has fully inoculated almost 80% of its population, the highest among Group of Seven economies.
Health minister Shigeyuki Goto said last week that boosters should be given as soon as possible, instead of holding firm to an eight-month lag from the first two shots.
Retrieved from: https://www.reuters.com/markets/asia/japan-pm-kishida-speaks-with-pfizer-ceo-speeding-vaccine-boosters-media-2021-12-17/
Cafes, restaurants and karaoke rooms seen on a street in Seoul, South Korea, will now need to close by 9pm, according to new government curfews. Photograph: YONHAP/EPA
South Korea will reinstate social distancing rules and a 9pm curfew for restaurants and cafes to combat spiralling numbers of new infections and hospitalisations.
Curbs will return from 18 December to 2 January, limiting social gatherings to no more than four people - as long as they are vaccinated.
Restaurants, cafes and nightly entertainment facilities will also need to close by 9pm and movie theatres and internet cafes by 10pm, prime minister Kim Boo-kyum announced on Thursday.
Unvaccinated people will only be able to dine out alone, or use takeout or delivery services.
The measures came a day after South Korea reported another new daily record in Covid cases.
More than 94% of South Korean adults are fully vaccinated, but the number of new cases has surged nearly five-fold and the number of serious cases tripled since the rules were eased last month, adding to strains on the country’s medical system.
Retrieved from: https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2021/dec/16/covid-news-live-south-korea-reimpose-dining-curfews-south-africa-daily-cases-record-omicron?page=with:block-61ba95ab8f083aad70476b77#block-61ba95ab8f083aad70476b77
If you’ve just joined us here is a quick snapshot of the latest Covid developments over the past few hours:
· The European Union’s drugs regulator has said that member states can use Pfizer’s antiviral Covid pill Paxlovid early after diagnosis of an infection even though its full review for regulatory approval has not been completed yet.
· France’s president Emmanuel Macron has said he will look at hospital capacity to make decisions about any future possible tightenings of restrictions in France and not just case numbers.
· The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said it had received reports of eight cases of myocarditis, a type of heart inflammation, in children aged 5-11 years who received Pfizer and BioNTech’s Covid-19 vaccine, Reuters reports.
· A panel of outside advisers to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Thursday voted to recommend shots by Pfizer/BioNTech or Moderna in the US in preference to Johnson & Johnson’s vaccines, because of the risk of rare but sometimes fatal cases of blood clotting.
· US president Joe Biden on Thursday warned of “a winter of severe illness and death” for those not vaccinated against Covid-19, amid a wave of Delta infections and as new Omicron cases are beginning to surge in America
· The G7 has called the Omicron variant the “biggest current threat to global public health”, warning it is now “more important than ever” for countries to “closely cooperate”.
Retrieved from: https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2021/dec/17/covid-news-live-g7-calls-omicron-biggest-threat-to-global-health-unvaccinated-face-winter-of-severe-illness-and-death-biden-warns
Medicine
