A man reacts as he receives a jab of the Johnson and Johnson vaccine from a healthcare worker inside the Transvaco COVID-19 vaccine train stationed at the Springs Train Station outside of Johannesburg, on Aug 25 2021. (PHILL MAGAKOE / AFP)
JOHANNESBURG / BERLIN / LONDON / HARARE / ADDIS ABABA / BOGOTA / MEXICO CITY / RIO DE JANEIRO / CHICAGO / NEW YORK / MILAN / WASHINGTON / SOFIA / TRIPOLI / NAIROBI / RABAT / BUCHAREST / PARIS / MADRID / MOSCOW / LUANDA / KINSHASHA – The World Health Organization said the third wave of COVID-19 infections in Africa appears to have stabilized, though cases remain high with almost 248,000 reported in the past week.
“There have now been almost 7.6 million COVID-19 cases and 191,000 Africans have sadly died,” Matshidiso Moeti, the organization’s regional director for the continent, told reporters during its weekly briefing Thursday.
Some 24 African countries are experiencing a resurgence and deaths are rising in eight of them, including in Botswana and Ethiopia
Some 24 countries are experiencing a resurgence and deaths are rising in eight of them, including in Botswana and Ethiopia, she said.
At the same time, an estimated 13 million vaccine doses have been administered across Africa over the past week, triple the previous seven-day period, she said. The rollout in the continent has trailed much of the rest of the world, partly due to supply and procurement issues.
“We are still hopeful that 10 percent of people in Africa can be vaccinated by the end of September,” said Moeti, adding that 117 million doses are due to arrive in the coming month and as many as 34 million additional doses will be needed to reach that target.
The Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention earlier said that the number of confirmed cases in Africa reached 7,592,195 as of Wednesday evening.
The death toll rose to 191,048 while the number of recoveries stood at 6,717,483, it added.
Global tally
Coronavirus cases worldwide surpassed 213.92 million while the global death toll topped 4.46 million, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
WHO
World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Wednesday that the data on the benefits and safety of a COVID-19 vaccine booster shot were inconclusive.
"When some countries afford to have the booster and others are not even vaccinating the first and second round, it's a moral issue," he said during a media briefing.
In another development, the WHO has backed a proposal to set up a US$10 billion fund to plug the financial gap in the global healthcare system exposed by the pandemic.
The annual Global Health Threats Fund is part of efforts by G20 finance ministers to double spending in health care and boost the financial capacity to respond to future pandemics, said Singapore Senior Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam during a WHO press briefing on Wednesday.
ALSO READ: J&J says COVID-19 booster shot triggered an antibody surge
The World Health Organization said the third wave of COVID-19 infections in Africa appears to have stabilized, though cases remain high with almost 248,000 reported in the past week.
“There have now been almost 7.6 million COVID-19 cases and 191,000 Africans have sadly died,” Matshidiso Moeti, the organization’s regional director for the continent, told reporters during its weekly briefing Thursday.
Some 24 countries are experiencing a resurgence and deaths are rising in eight of them, including in Botswana and Ethiopia, she said.
At the same time, an estimated 13 million vaccine doses have been administered across Africa over the past week, triple the previous seven-day period, she said. The rollout in the continent has trailed much of the rest of the world, partly due to supply and procurement issues.
“We are still hopeful that 10 percent of people in Africa can be vaccinated by the end of September,” said Moeti, adding that 117 million doses are due to arrive in the coming month and as many as 34 million additional doses will be needed to reach that target.
The Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention earlier said that the number of confirmed cases in Africa reached 7,592,195 as of Wednesday evening.
The death toll rose to 191,048 while the number of recoveries stood at 6,717,483, it added.
Americas
The unequal distribution of vaccines which protect against COVID-19 is the weak point in efforts to combat the disease in the Americas, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) said on Wednesday.
"Vaccine inequity remains the Achilles' heel of our response," PAHO Director Dr. Carissa Etienne said during the organization's weekly virtual briefing.
"A handful of companies produce all the world's supply of COVID-19 vaccines," Etienne said. "Many of them are letting price and country of origin, not need, determine how doses are rolled out, so much of today's vaccine supply remains in the hands of wealthy nations around the world."
Countries are also suffering because of production delays, leaving them waiting for doses purchased months ago, she said.
Almost 12 million vaccine donations from the United States, Spain, Norway, France and Sweden will not be enough to protect the hundreds of millions of people who remain vulnerable, Etienne said, adding just over 23 percent of people in Latin America and the Caribbean are fully vaccinated.
PAHO, the World Health Organization's regional arm, will launch an effort to bring mRNA vaccine technology to the region and boost manufacturing efforts, she said.
Vaccine doses for Venezuelan migrants – millions of whom have fled their country for other parts of Latin America – are being acquired, including through the COVAX mechanism, PAHO's health emergencies director Dr. Ciro Ugarte said.
The Americas reported over 1.5 million new COVID-19 cases last week and nearly 20,000 related deaths.
A health worker gives a woman a shot of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine during an inoculation campaign for market vendors at the Rodriguez Market in La Paz, Bolivia, Aug 25, 2021. (JUAN KARITA / AP)
France
France plans to roll out COVID-19 vaccine booster shots in nursing homes from Sept 12 or September 13 onwards, Prime Minister Jean Castex said on Thursday.
Meanwhile, people aged over 65 and those will existing medical conditions will be able to book appointments for a booster shot from early September, Castex told RTL radio, adding there must be a six-month delay between the second and the third shot.
France's Haute Autorite de Sante (HAS) health watchdog on Tuesday recommended a COVID-19 vaccine booster shot for those aged 65 and over and for those with existing medical conditions that could put at them serious harm from COVID-19.
South Africa
More than 80,000 people have died from COVID-19 in South Africa since the onset of the pandemic in March of 2020, the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) said on Wednesday.
The country recorded 516 COVID-19 related deaths in the last 24 hours, bringing the toll to 80,469.
Another 13,251 COVID-19 cases were registered during the same period, taking the tally to 2,722,202.
"The total number of cases today is higher than yesterday and higher than the average number of new cases per day over the 7 preceding days. The 7-day moving average daily number of cases has decreased," said the NICD.
Coetzee Angelique, chairperson of the South African Medical Association said the figures were saddening.
"Our members are telling us that the workload is increasing in KZN and the Western Cape. It's very sad that we have lost such a high number of people due to the virus," she told Xinhua.
Germany
Daily COVID-19 infections in Germany continued to rise sharply, with 11,561 new cases registered in one day compared to 3,237 more than one week ago, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) said on Wednesday.
The COVID-19 incidence in Germany reached 61.3 cases per 100,000 citizens, up from 58.0 on Tuesday and 40.8 a week ago, according to the RKI.
"We now need a regulation that fits the new situation and takes vaccination numbers into account, not a continuation," Green Party faction leader Katrin Goering Eckhardt told RND on Wednesday.
According to RKI, around 49.4 million people in Germany were fully vaccinated as of Wednesday, bringing the country's vaccination rate to 59.4 percent. More than 53.5 million Germans have received at least one dose.
Meanwhile, 441 newly hospitalized COVID-19 patients were being treated in German hospitals Wednesday, and the seven-day incidence of hospitalized cases in the country stood at 1.47 per 100,000 residents, according to the RKI.
UK
Britain recorded 35,847 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, up from 30,838 on Tuesday, and 149 deaths within 28 days of a positive test, down from 174 the previous day, according to government data.
In total, Britain has reported 6,590,747 confirmed cases and 132,003 deaths, according to the data.
Since mid-July when lockdown restrictions were lifted, Britain has been reporting a steady increase, excluding daily fluctuations, in deaths of people who had tested positive for COVID-19 within 28 days. Cases have also been rising since the start of August.
Deaths in the last seven days are up 13.4 percent on the week before, while cases are up 12.1 percent, the data showed.
Meanwhile, Britain's Health Department said it has not made any decision on COVID-19 vaccines for 12 to 15 year olds after the Telegraph reported the National Health Service (NHS) planned vaccinations from the first week children return to school in September.
Moderna
Moderna Inc. said it had completed the application process for full approval of its COVID-19 vaccine in the US, putting the company on course to obtain the second such clearance from federal regulators.
The company said in a statement on Wednesday that it had finished the rolling submission process for an approval from the Food and Drug Administration. Moderna first launched the process in June with the beginnings of a so-called Biologics License Application. Since then, the company has been supplying data to regulators on its shot’s safety and effectiveness as it became available in clinical testing.
Moderna’s two-shot regimen currently holds an emergency-use authorization for those 18 and older. The designation that can be revoked at any time and only lasts for the duration of the pandemic. If regulators grant the approval, it would follow the full clearance earlier this week granted to the vaccine made by the partnership of Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE.
READ MORE: Pfizer, Moderna get EU nod for boosting mRNA vaccine output
Zimbabwe
The Zimbabwean government announced Wednesday that COVID-19 vaccination is now open for 14 to 17 year age groups, as it seeks to ramp up inoculation and reach herd immunity by year-end.
Meanwhile, the Zimbabwean government extended the Level 4 nationwide lockdown by another two weeks.
In announcing the extension, Information Minister Monica Mutsvangwa said that while there had been a notable decrease in COVID-19 infections and deaths, more efforts were still required to contain the third wave.
Restaurants, however, will be allowed to reopen for sit-in patrons who are fully vaccinated, she said.
Schools that were scheduled to reopen on June 28 will reopen on Aug 30 for examination classes and Sept 6 for non-examination classes. Inter-city and intra-city transportation for learners will be allowed during the re-opening of schools, subject to monitoring by law enforcement agencies.
According to Mutsvangwa, Zimbabwe is expected to receive another 2.5 million doses of vaccines under direct purchase, and 943,200 doses under the COVAX program in September.
The country has administered a total of 3,888,804 doses of COVID-19 vaccines and 1,506,445 people have been fully vaccinated.
The Zimbabwean government will donate 20,000 doses of vaccines to Namibia, she said.
Pfizer
Pfizer on Wednesday said a booster dose of its two-shot COVID-19 vaccine spurs a more than threefold increase in antibodies against the coronavirus, as the company seeks US regulatory approval for a third injection.
The drugmaker and its German partner BioNTech SE aim to complete the submission for use of booster shots in people aged 16 and over by the end of this week.
The US government has said it was gearing up to roll out the third shot of vaccines from both Pfizer and Moderna from mid-September to Americans who had their initial course more than eight months ago if the US FDA and the US CDC decide that boosters are needed.
That eight-month gap is likely to be narrowed to six months, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.
A committee of outside advisors to the CDC is scheduled to meet on Monday to review clinical data.
Pfizer said 306 people given a third dose of its vaccine between five and eight months after their second shot showed levels of neutralizing antibodies that were 3.3 times the levels seen after their second shot.
The study, details of which have not yet been published, also found that side effects of a third shot were similar to second-dose reactions, including mild to moderate fatigue and headache, the company said.
Mexico
Mexico's health ministry reported 21,250 new cases of COVID-19 and 986 more deaths on Wednesday, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the country since the pandemic began to 3,271,128 and the death toll to 255,452.
Brazil
Pfizer Inc and partner BioNTech said on Thursday they had signed a deal with Brazil's Eurofarma Laboratorios SA to manufacture their COVID-19 vaccine for distribution within Latin America.
Eurofarma will start manufacturing finished doses beginning in 2022. The agreement does not cover the complicated process of mRNA drug substance production that will be done at Pfizer and BioNTech's US facilities.
Eurofarma is expected to produce more than 100 million finished doses annually at full operational capacity, Pfizer and BioNTech said.
Pfizer and BioNTech have so far shipped 1.3 billion doses of their two-shot vaccine across the world and aim to deliver 3 billion by the end of this year.
Meanwhile, Brazil registered 30,671 new coronavirus cases and 903 additional COVID-19 deaths in the last 24 hours, the health ministry said on Wednesday.
Italy
Italy reported 59 coronavirus-related deaths on Wednesday, compared with 60 the day before, the health ministry said, while the daily tally of new infections rose to 7,548 from 6,076.
Italy has registered 128,914 deaths linked to COVID-19 since its outbreak emerged in February last year, the second-highest toll in Europe after Britain and the eighth-highest in the world. The country has reported 4.502 million cases to date.
Patients in hospital with COVID-19 – not including those in intensive care – stood at 4,023 on Wednesday, down slightly from 4,036 a day earlier.
There were 34 new admissions to intensive care units, down from 46 on Tuesday. The total number of intensive care patients fell to 499 from a previous 504.
Libya
The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) on Wednesday said it delivered supplies to the vaccination center in the eastern Libyan city Benghazi.
The supplies for Libya's mass vaccination campaign include face shields, first aid kits, cold boxes, quality monitoring devices, thermometers, stethoscopes, day loggers, hand sanitizers, alcohol, and surgical masks, UNICEF said.
A total of 1,014,310 people in Libya have been vaccinated against COVID-19, the Libyan National Center for Disease Control said on Tuesday.
Kenya
Kenya has ramped up inoculation against COVID-19 as the country procures additional doses from multiple platforms to help contain surging infections, officials said Wednesday.
Willis Akhwale, chair of COVID-19 vaccine taskforce in the Ministry of Health, said the national target of fully immunizing 10 percent of the population by December was within sight amid rapid acquisition of doses.
So far, 2.9 percent of Kenya's adult population has been fully immunized, he said.
According to Akhwale, health ministry plans to inoculate 80,000 people daily in September, up from the current daily average of 75,000. The target is to vaccinate 150,000 people on a daily basis by December, according to Akhwale.
He said citizens aged 50 and above will qualify for COVID-19 vaccination during the second phase of inoculation, as the country prepares for the arrival of huge stockpiles from the COVAX facility and donations.
Kenya's COVID-19 caseload rose to 232,052 Wednesday, along with 4,600 deaths and 216,127 recoveries, according to official data.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul speaks to reporters after a ceremonial swearing-in ceremony at the state Capitol in Albany, New York, Aug 24, 2021. (HANS PENNINK / AP)
US
New York Governor Kathy Hochul revealed 12,000 more people died of COVID-19 than was reported under her predecessor, making good on her promise for greater transparency on just her second day leading the state.
The state is now reporting a total of 55,400 people died in New York from coronavirus, based on data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Hochul said in a statement.
That's an increase of 12,000 over the 43,400 reported by Andrew Cuomo as of his last day in office before resigning in disgrace amid a sexual harassment scandal.
The revised count is based on death certificate data submitted to the CDC, which includes any confirmed or suspected COVID-19 deaths in any location in New York, Hochul said in the statement.
Elsewhere, the hospitalization rate among unvaccinated people was more than 29 times the rate of fully vaccinated people in Los Angeles County, the most populous county in the United States, health authorities said Wednesday.
Fully vaccinated people with COVID-19 infection were significantly less likely than unvaccinated persons to be hospitalized, to be admitted to an intensive care unit, to require mechanical ventilation, or to die from COVID-19 infection, said the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health in a daily release, citing data in a new report from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Meanwhile, the number of COVID-19 cases involving children in the US reached levels not seen since the winter surge, according to the latest report from the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children's Hospital Association.
As of Aug 19, over 4.59 million children have tested positive for COVID-19, according to the report. More than 180,000 cases were added during the past week, reaching levels of the previous winter surge of 2020-2021.
In another development, the Pentagon on Wednesday ordered all active-duty service members to be vaccinated with the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine days after the Food and Drug Administration granted it full approval.
Separately, Mayor of Chicago Lori Lightfoot said all the city workers must be fully vaccinated by Oct 15, while allowing for medical or religious exemptions.
Bulgaria
The Bulgarian government on Wednesday extended the national emergency epidemic situation due to COVID-19 by three months until Nov 30.
"The spread of COVID-19 in the country marks the beginning of a new, fourth pandemic wave," the cabinet said in a press release.
"The prolongation of the emergency epidemic situation and the implementation of anti-epidemic measures in the country aims to reduce the impact of COVID-19 on public health, taking into account the real risk of spreading various SARS-CoV-2 variants in Bulgaria," it said.
According to the press release, only 20.1 percent of the adult population in Bulgaria has already received their first vaccine dose and 18.2 percent have been fully vaccinated.
Bulgaria has recorded a total of 445,097 confirmed cases with 18,565 deaths. In the past 24 hours, 1,911 new cases and 33 fatalities were reported, according to the health authorities.
Morocco
Morocco reported on Wednesday 8,008 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the tally in the country to 829,137.
The death toll by 85 to 12,079 while the number of recoveries increased by 7,799 to 747,746, according to a statement by the Ministry of Health.
So far, a total of 17,871,468 people have received their first dose of COVID-19 vaccine and 13,784,900 people have received two doses.
Romania
The Romanian government decided on Wednesday to introduce vaccination services at people's homes and in specialized ambulances.
The new measure will last until March 31, 2022. At-home vaccination by a family doctor or by a specialized physician in an ambulance will cost 60 lei (US$14.3) and 40 lei per inoculation, respectively.
By Tuesday, 5,197,165 people in Romania, or some 30 percent of the eligible population, have received at least one vaccine jab and 5,075,202 have gotten two shots.
On Wednesday, Romania reported 849 new cases, the highest daily figure since May 15, bringing the tally to 1,092,971.
Deaths rose by 14 to 34,453.
Heart inflammation risks
The use of Pfizer-BioNTech's COVID-19 vaccine marginally increases the risk of heart inflammation, but the risk is higher among those infected with the coronavirus, a study published on Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine showed.
Among every 100,000 patients who get the vaccine, 1 to 5 will likely develop myocarditis who would not otherwise have developed it, researchers reported based on data from Clalit Health Services, a large Israeli HMO.
That rate is much higher – 11 per 100,000 – among people infected with the coronavirus, they said.
Most adverse events in vaccinated people were mild, but some, such as myocarditis, are potentially serious, researchers said.
EU
European Union countries that decide to use COVID-19 vaccine booster shots may face increased legal risks because the additional dose has not yet been recommended by the EU drugs regulator, the European Commission said on Thursday.
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) has repeatedly said that more data is needed before it can approve the use of boosters, but eight European countries have decided to recommend the additional dose, and more than a dozen are set to make similar moves shortly.
"Booster doses are currently not part of the marketing authorization of COVID-19 vaccines and have not yet been subject to a scientific assessment by EMA in the absence of sufficient data," the EU Commission said in a statement to Reuters on Thursday.
"The responsibility to decide to include boosters in their vaccination campaign remains with the Member States," the statement said, adding: "As long as the booster doses are not part of the marketing authorization, companies' liability is modified."
This could mean that in the event of unexpected side effects that can be linked to boosters, EU states might bear the brunt of any legal consequences and compensation demands.
The Commission said however that companies' liability would not disappear entirely if boosters are administered without the EMA's approval. For instance, if a side effect after a booster is caused by manufacturing issues, the vaccine maker would remain liable for it.
EU liability and indemnity rules apply in cases of unexpected adverse effects linked to the general characteristics of the product or its manufacturing. Each company supplying COVID-19 vaccines to the EU has negotiated different clauses, which remain largely confidential.
The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) said that Austria, Belgium, France, Hungary, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg and Slovenia are currently recommending the use of boosters, with Germany planning to do the same in the autumn. Thirteen other European states are discussing the matter.
Meanwhile, the EU will discuss on Thursday whether to reimpose curbs on visitors from the US as new coronavirus cases soar.
The change was recommended by Slovenia, which holds the EU’s rotating presidency and is responsible for triggering an assessment of countries allowed non-essential travel there, according to two officials familiar with the plans.
The US had 507 new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 inhabitants in the first two weeks of August, according to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, well above the limit of 75 set out in EU guidelines.
Spain
Spanish pharma company Rovi said on Thursday the potential contamination of some doses of the coronavirus vaccine which it manufactures for Moderna was under investigation and appeared limited to some batches for Japan.
A spokesperson for the Madrid-listed company, which handles the final fill-and-finish stage for customers outside of the United States, said production had not been halted at its plants.
Russia
Russia on Thursday reported a record 820 coronavirus-related deaths amid a surge of cases blamed on the Delta variant and the slow rate of vaccinations.
The government's coronavirus task force also reported 19,630 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours.
Angola
Angola has received over US$1 billion from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) with immediate access as part of the efforts to combat effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, the country's finance ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.
The assistance is IMF's response to the call made by the international community on May 18 at the Paris Summit to mobilize a massive aid package to help countries, particularly African countries, address the sanitary crisis, the ministry said.
The allocation will also help the country kickstart a new growth cycle, including greater inclusion of the private sector, according to the statement.
The ministry clarified that the present allocation Angola received is not an additional funding within the framework of the current Extended Fund Facility that the country has with the IMF.
