EU leaders struggle to find common ground on travel curbs

People queue up in front of a coronavirus testing station on Nov 24, 2021 in Berlin, amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
(JOHN MACDOUGALL / AFP)

LONDON / PARIS / MADRID / BUDAPEST / HAVANA / UNITED NATIONS / WASHINGTON / BRUSSELS – Divisions within the European Union have deepened over travel rules to curb the spread of the Omicron variant of coronavirus, after Italy and Greece followed Portugal and Ireland in announcing additional curbs on travelers from other EU states.

The EU's 27 member states have been debating for weeks how to coordinate travel policy, with the aim of containing the virus without disproportionately disrupting travel within the border-free European Schengen area.

The EU's 27 member states have been debating for weeks how to coordinate travel policy, with the aim of containing the virus without disproportionately disrupting travel within the border-free European Schengen area

However, Italy said on Tuesday that from Dec 16 until the end of January it would require all travelers from EU countries to show a negative test on arrival, even if they are vaccinated. The unvaccinated will face a five-day quarantine.

If applied strictly, the rules – which take effect on Thursday – would effectively restore frontier checks at Italy's land borders, echoing measures adopted by EU countries at the start of the pandemic. These triggered queues at the borders and caused shortages of food and medicines around the bloc.

"I have only seen that closing borders is in any case not the solution," Luxembourg's Prime Minister Xavier Bettel told reporters as he arrived for a summit of EU leaders in Brussels.

The summit conclusions say any restrictions should be coordinated, based on objective criteria, and should not "disproportionately hamper free movement between Member States".

Latvian Prime Minister Krisjanis Karins said freedom of travel inside the EU must not end.

Certificate

An EU diplomat was more explicit: "Adding tests to vaccine certificates means undermining the value of the COVID-19 certificate."

The EU introduced its COVID-19 certificate in July. It allows holders to travel freely across EU borders if they have been vaccinated against the disease, have recovered or have had a recent negative test.

The European Commission proposed on November 25 a tweak to the COVID pass that would make proof of vaccination sufficient for unhindered movement across the EU for nine months after completion of the primary vaccination cycle.

The proposal has not yet been approved by member states.

Portugal introduced a requirement for additional negative tests on the very day the Commission made its proposal. Ireland mirrored that move a few days later.

Greece announced the same measure on Wednesday, to take effect on Dec 19. Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said it would apply only for the Christmas period and was meant to gain time against the spread of Omicron as Greece sped up its campaign to give a booster dose to all adults.

Preliminary data show vaccines are less effective against Omicron, but a booster increases protection.

Canada

Canada's government implored residents on Wednesday not to leave the country as provinces ramp up vaccinations to combat the fast-spreading Omicron coronavirus variant, even as efforts to head off a COVID-19 wave are complicated by public fatigue over the pandemic.

COVID-19 case numbers are increasing, with the national seven-day average of new cases at its highest point since Oct 1, as Canadian hospitals struggle to clear backlogs from months of postponed procedures. Many exhausted staff members appear ill-equipped for another surge in infections.

Canada has banned travel from 10 African countries because of concerns about the new variant.

The federal government advised residents in March 2020 not to travel abroad unless necessary. It withdrew the notice this past Oct – before the first Omicron cases were reported – citing the success of vaccination campaigns.

Cuba

Cuba recorded its fourth consecutive day without COVID-19 deaths, remaining at 8,313 total deaths, while reporting 62 infections in the last 24 hours, for a total of 963,813 cases, the Ministry of Public Health said on Wednesday.

In its daily report, the ministry said 309 Cubans remain hospitalized as active cases, a figure that decreases daily.

EU

Around 27 million 5-11 year-olds are eligible for the vaccine in the EU, and most countries want to move fast.

In Spain, hundreds of parents queued to have their children vaccinated at the Infanta Sofia hospital in San Sebastián de los Reyes outside Madrid, which expects to administer over 1,000 shots per day.

While most children do not become seriously ill from the coronavirus, they can unwittingly infect others at higher risk. And children now account for the majority of cases in Spain, Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands.

Hungary said 38,000 parents had registered their children for the shot so far, while in Poland over 100,000 children were signed up to a vaccination drive starting on Thursday.

In Rome, clowns and jugglers were enlisted to cheer and distract children being vaccinated in a campaign extending to the rest of Italy on Thursday.

Denmark began inoculating its children against COVID-19 before the EU-wide recommendation, and has reached almost one in four of those eligible after just over two weeks.

France, Finland and Germany, where scepticism is relatively common, were vaccinating only the most vulnerable children rather than seeking blanket coverage.

READ MORE: WHO: Omicron poses 'very high' risk but data on severity limited

In this May 18, 2020 file photo, French President Emmanuel Macron speaks during a joint video press conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel at the Elysee Palace in Paris. (FRANCOIS MORI / AP)

France

French President Emmanuel Macron said on Wednesday it was possible the COVID-19 vaccine would eventually be made compulsory in France, but said it was not the priority for now.

Like its European neighbors and countries across the globe, France is scrambling to find ways to contain a fresh surge in the pandemic. France's seven-day average of new infections is at its highest since Nov 2020.

Asked in an interview with TF1 and LCI television stations if COVID-19 vaccination could become mandatory in France, Macron said: "This hypothesis exists."

But he quickly added that France was "almost there," in practice. With nearly 90 percent of eligible people in France already vaccinated, France was not far from the level of take-up that would be achieved by making the jab mandatory, he said.

First and foremost, he encouraged those who have not had a jab yet to get it done.

LIcensed Vocational Nurse Eloisa Flores administers the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine at a vaccination clinic at a vaccination clinic in Los Angeles, California on Dec 15, 2021. (FREDERIC J. BROWN / AFP)

Gavi

Tens of millions of migrants may be denied COVID-19 vaccines from a global program because some major manufacturers are worried about legal risks from harmful side effects, according to officials and internal documents from Gavi, the charity operating the program, reviewed by Reuters.

The legal concerns are an additional hurdle for public health officials tackling the coronavirus – even as officials say unvaccinated people offer an ideal environment for it to mutate into new variants that threaten hard-won immunity around the world. Many COVID-19 vaccine manufacturers have required that countries indemnify them for any adverse events suffered by individuals as a result of the vaccines, the United Nations says.Nearly two years into a pandemic that has already killed more than 5 million people, only about 7 percent of people in low-income countries have received a dose. Vaccine deliveries worldwide have been delayed by production problems, hoarding by rich countries, export restrictions and red tape. Many programs have also been hampered by hesitancy among the public .

For refugees, migrants and asylum-seekers, as well as people afflicted by natural disasters or other events that put them out of reach of government help, the global program known as COVAX created a Humanitarian Buffer – a last-resort reserve of shots to be administered by humanitarian groups. Gavi, the vaccine alliance, is a public-private partnership set up in 2000 to promote vaccination around the world.

ALSO READ: WHO: COVID-19 shots may be less effective against Omicron

But that buffer does not have any mechanism to offer compensation. Gavi, which operates COVAX with the World Health Organization, says that where those applying for doses, mainly NGOs, can't bear legal risks, deliveries from that stockpile can only be made if vaccine-makers accept liability.

The companies that are willing to do so under these circumstances provide only a minority of the program's vaccines, according to people familiar with the matter and the documents, written by Gavi staff for a board meeting starting at the end of November.

More than two-thirds of COVAX doses have come from Pfizer Inc and its partner BioNTech SE, AstraZeneca PLC and Moderna Inc, Gavi says. Moderna declined to comment. AstraZeneca and Pfizer said they were in talks with Gavi but declined to comment further. All three said they are committed to making doses available to poorer nations at relatively low prices. Pfizer said it was collaborating directly with governments in Jordan and Lebanon to donate doses for refugees.

Mainly because of the legal concerns, less than 2 million doses have so far been sent from the buffer, Gavi says. About 167 million people risk being excluded from national program, according to United Nations data cited in the documents.

Unless all the firms accept legal liability, "access to vaccines for some populations will remain a challenge," the Gavi documents say, adding that new crises will generate additional demand to cover displaced populations.

The vaccine makers' reluctance to take on the legal risks is "a major hurdle" in attempts to provide vaccines for the buffer, a spokesperson for Gavi told Reuters. Gavi did not comment on the details in the documents, but said applications for vaccines are confidential until the doses are delivered. In September, Gavi's CEO, Seth Berkley, tweeted an appeal to drugmakers to waive their requirements for legal indemnity.

UK

The United Kingdom recorded its highest daily coronavirus cases since the start of the pandemic on Wednesday as a senior British health chief said there could be a “staggering” rise in cases over the next few days.

A further 78,610 COVID-19 cases were reported on Wednesday, surpassing the previous high of 68,053 cases reported on Jan 8.

More than 11 million people have now tested positive for the disease in the United Kingdom, which has a total population of around 67 million.

With a new highly transmissible Omicron variant of the virus surging across Britain, Prime Minister Boris Johnson has warned of a “tidal wave” of infections.

However, he suffered a blow to his authority on Tuesday when more than 100 of his lawmakers voted against measure to curb the increasing spread of the disease.

Jenny Harries, chief executive of the UK Health Security Agency, earlier called the Omicron variant “probably the most significant threat” since the start of the pandemic.

“The numbers that we see on data over the next few days will be quite staggering compared to the rate of growth that we’ve seen in cases for previous variants,” she told a parliamentary committee.

Harries said the new variant of the virus has a doubling time “which is shortening” and is now under two days in most regions in Britain, with its growth rate was being notable in London and Manchester in particular.

More than 10,000 cases of Omicron have been recorded, with at least 10 people hospitalized. One person has died after contracting the variant, which is set to become the dominant strain in London.

Meanwhile, British hospitals, particularly in London, are struggling to maintain staffing levels due to the number who are having to isolate with COVID-19, a senior emergency doctor said on Thursday.

With a new highly transmissible Omicron variant of the virus surging, Britain on Wednesday recorded its highest number of daily coronavirus cases since the start of the pandemic, with a further 78,610 COVID-19 infections reported.

"The acute problem is actually to do with staffing," Katherine Henderson, an emergency consultant in London and President of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, told BBC Radio.

"Even if we are not seeing a big rise in hospitalisations yet, we are already seeing the effect on not having the staff to run shifts properly and safely. So we are worried about patient harm coming about because we just don’t have the staff."

UN

Stephane Dujarric, spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, confirmed Wednesday that he has tested positive for COVID-19 and will comply with medical guidelines by self-isolation.

"I would like to inform you that, earlier today, as part of routine testing for work, I received a positive result on a COVID-19 PCR test. I am in close contact with the UN Medical Services and will isolate as per medical guidelines," Dujarric said in an email to UN reporters.

Dujarric said he had been fully vaccinated and received a booster shot. Despite experiencing "very mild" symptoms, he plans to continue working from home.

"Out of an abundance of caution, the spokesperson's office will operate virtually until the end of this week," he added.

US

A US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advisory panel will meet on Thursday to consider possible limits on the use of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine because of continued blood clot issues, the Washington Post reported on Wednesday.

The CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices will be presented new data that appears to show the rate of clots in people who received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine has increased since April, the Post reported, citing clinicians familiar with the agenda.

Use of the vaccine in the United States was paused for 10 days in April to investigate extremely rare but potentially deadly clots, mostly in young and middle-aged women. 

There have been about nine deaths related to the issue, the Post said, citing an unnamed federal official.

The CDC did not immediately respond to a request from Reuters for comment on the Post report.

The logo of Valneva SE Group is pictured at the company's headquarters in Saint-Herblain, near Nantes, western France, on July 30, 2020. (JEAN-FRANCOIS MONIER / AFP)

Valneva

COVID-19 vaccine candidate was efficient as a booster for people who had received the same shot as an initial vaccination.

"Initial results confirm that VLA2001 significantly boosted immunity in participants who received VLA2001 as a primary vaccination," it said in a statement.

The news comes almost two weeks after a British study showed VLA2001 was the only shot out of seven that offered no immunity boost when given to people previously immunised with Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine. 

Valneva had said in reaction to that study that participants had been given booster doses after a shorter interval than usual and that vaccines made from inactivated viruses, such as its candidate, typically require longer to be effective.

"The company is preparing to launch a dedicated heterologous booster trial, which will evaluate a VLA2001 booster shot provided at least six months after primary vaccination with other vaccines or following natural infection. This study is expected to commence in early 2022," it said Thursday.

 

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