A military receives a dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine against COVID-19 in Lima, on March 09, 2021, as Peru starts vaccination of the elderly, police and military. (ERNESTO BENAVIDES / AFP)
GENEVA / LONDON / ADDIS ABABA / BUENOS AIRES / SOFIA / OTTAWA / ALGIERS / SANTIAGO / HAVANA / QUITO / PARIS / DUBLIN / RABAT / MOSCOW / LONDON / MADRID / LONDON / NEW YORK / HARARE – The United Nations’ children’s fund on Wednesday urged countries to contribute more money to help poor countries access coronavirus vaccines, saying around US$1 billion was needed.
UNICEF, the world’s single largest vaccine buyer, is part of the World Health Organization-backed COVAX programme to supply COVID-19 shots to emerging economies.
“We have been asking the world for more funding … for UNICEF and our distribution to countries we still need about US$1 billion,” UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore said at Dubai’s World Government Summit, held virtually this year.
That funding could be used strengthen health systems in poorer nations and support the distribution of vaccines there, she said.
The COVAX initiative aims to deliver at least 2 billion COVID-19 vaccine doses this year, including 1.3 billion doses to lower income countries.
Fore urged vaccine makers to sign licensing agreements so vaccines could be made locally, singling out Africa as one market that needed it.
Study on UK variant
A highly infectious variant of COVID-19 that has spread around the world since it was first discovered in Britain late last year is between 30 percent and 100 percent more deadly than previous dominant variants, researchers said on Wednesday.
In a study that compared death rates among people in Britain infected with the new SARS-CoV-2 variant – known as B.1.1.7 – against those infected with other variants of the COVID-19-causing virus, scientists said the new variant’s mortality rate was “significantly higher”.
The B.1.1.7 variant was first detected in Britain in September 2020, and has since also been found in more than 100 other countries.
Pfizer
BioNTech SE could have capacity to make 3 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccine with US partner Pfizer Inc next year, the German company’s chief executive officer said, making their pioneering shot far more widely available around the world.
“In principle, we could further increase manufacturing capacity,” Ugur Sahin said Tuesday in an interview with Bloomberg TV. “It depends on demand, it depends on factors such as if an additional boost to vaccinations is required.”
Demand is growing around the world for COVID-19 vaccines that countries desperately need to breathe back life into economies, return children to schools and get people back into offices and shops. Both the US and Europe have sought to accelerate vaccine deliveries this year as new, more aggressive variants of the virus spread.
“We have an order book of already 1.3 billion orders, which is already fixed,” Sahin said. “We are discussing additional doses – hundreds of millions of doses as options – with government organizations.”
BioNTech shares rose as much as 1.3 percent early Wednesday in Frankfurt.
The two companies have committed to make 2 billion doses of their two-shot vaccine this year. Pfizer promised to ship two-thirds of the US’s 300 million-dose order by the end of May. In the European Union, the partners have promised to ship at least 500 million doses this year, with an option for an additional 100 million doses.
Pfizer has projected about US$15 billion in revenue this year from COVID-19 vaccine sales, and CEO Albert Bourla said the price of the shot may increase.
A Kenyan health worker administers a dose of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine to her colleagues, part of the COVAX mechanism by GAVI(The Vaccine Alliance), to help fight againstCOVID-19 at the Kenyatta National Hospital in Nairobi on March 05, 2021. (SIMON MAINA / AFP)
WTO
The World Trade Organization’s chief on Tuesday called for action on boosting COVID-19 vaccine production in developing countries as several members of the global trade watchdog urged her to hold urgent talks with manufacturers to do so.
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, a former Nigerian finance minister who was until recently chair of the board of global vaccine alliance GAVI, took on the top job at the global trade watchdog last week. She has said health and vaccine access would be a top priority.
“The fact is that each additional day the vaccine shortage continues, people will pay with their lives,” Okonjo-Iweala said at a two-day summit focused on COVID-19 vaccine production, adding that around 130 countries were still waiting for vaccines.
She added that new vaccine manufacturing sites could be prepared in six to seven months or less than half the time previously thought.
In a sign that her ideas are gaining traction, seven of the body’s 164 members released a document on Tuesday urging her to hold urgent talks with COVID-19 vaccine developers and manufacturers on boosting production. The WTO chief has few executive powers and members’ support is essential.
ALSO READ: Hungary's death rate turns critical as vaccination beats EU
Lilly
Eli Lilly & Co.’s combination antibody therapy reduced the risk of hospitalization or death by 87 percent in high-risk patients with newly-diagnosed COVID-19, the company said.
The combination received emergency-use authorization from the US Food and Drug Administration in February, and the results and may give more confidence to doctors with qualms about insufficient evidence.
The study followed 769 high-risk patients 12 years old and older. Four of 511 patients on the therapy were hospitalized, with no deaths, compared with 15 hospitalizations and deaths, including four deaths, among 258 patients on placebo, the company said. The results suggest that the therapy maintained its effects even as variants have emerged, said Lilly Chief Scientific Officer Daniel Skovronsky.
Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations
An international coalition set up to prepare for future infectious disease threats set out what it called its “moonshot” plan on Wednesday to ensure new vaccines against emerging disease epidemics are developed within 100 days.
Launching a US$3.5 billion five-year strategy to tackle future pandemic risks, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) said more needs to be done urgently to mitigate the threat posed by new COVID-19 variants, and to prepare for new infectious diseases.
Compressing vaccine development timelines to 100 days would make them around a third as long as it took the world to develop the first COVID-19 vaccines, CEPI said in a statement.
It called on governments, global health organisations and other partners to back what it said was a “critical investment in global health security” and to take advantage of “the revolution in vaccinology that has been catalysed by COVID-19”.
CEPI, which was created in 2017 with initial donor funding from Germany, Japan and Norway and from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Wellcome Trust global health charity, has played a key role in funding early development of a range of candidate vaccines against COVID-19.
Africa
The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Africa has reached 3,982,844 as of Wednesday noon, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said.
The Africa CDC, the specialized healthcare agency of the African Union (AU), said the death toll related to the pandemic stood at 106,402, while 3,564,351 patients across the continent have recovered from the disease.
The most affected countries in terms of the number of confirmed positive cases include South Africa, Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, and Ethiopia, the agency noted.
Algeria
Algeria on Tuesday reported 161 new COVID-19 cases, raising the total number of confirmed cases in the North African country to 123,543.
The death toll from the virus rose to 3,022 after four new fatalities were added, said the Algerian Ministry of Health in a statement.
Argentina
Argentina registered 7,307 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, bringing the national tally to 2,162,001, the health ministry said.
The ministry also reported 131 more deaths from the disease, taking the nationwide toll to 53,252.
Brazil
Brazil reported a record number of deaths from coronavirus as the country rushes to seal new vaccine deals.
The Health Ministry said 1,972 died from COVID-19 in the last 24 hours, pushing the total to 268,370. Confirmed cases increased by 70,764, to 11,122,429. Brazil trails only the US in number of deaths globally, and ranks third in infections.
Hospitals across the country are reaching capacity, as a combination of year-end and carnival gatherings and a new, more contagious variant contribute to a spike of infections even as the virus recedes in most of the world. At the same time, a short supply of vaccines is slowing a mass immunization campaign in the country of 212 million.
In this Feb 13, 2021 photo, a health worker from the Ministry of Health Department for Indigenous Health administers a second dose of a COVID-19 vaccine to patient Maria Tereza in Sao Jose III do rio Maro, in the Lower Amazon region of the state of Para, near Santarem in Brazil. (TARSO SARRAF / AFP)
Bulgaria
Bulgaria reported 3,502 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, its highest daily tally in three months, while the number of deaths increased to 132, government data showed.
The Balkan country, which has already banned non-urgent operations in hospitals in many cities, has said regional health authorities could close schools, shopping malls and gyms and restaurants if they deem it necessary to slow the spread of the coronavirus.
Bulgaria's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Ekaterina Zaharieva has tested positive for COVID-19, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.
Zaharieva is in good condition and will perform her duties remotely, the statement said.
At least four cabinet members in Bulgaria have tested positive for COVID-19, including Prime Minister Boyko Borissov in October 2020, Minister of Youth and Sports Krasen Kralev in August 2020, Finance Minister Kiril Ananiev in January this year, and Deputy Prime Minister Tomislav Donchev in February.
Canada
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Tuesday that the country still does not have a target date for the first deliveries of Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine because of manufacturing problems.
"We have heard in many conversations with Johnson & Johnson that there are challenges around the production of the Janssen vaccine, but we will continue to engage with them, and we look forward to receiving doses as soon as possible," Trudeau told a press conference in Ottawa.
The vaccine developed by Janssen Pharmaceuticals, a pharmaceutical company headquartered in Belgium's Beerse and owned by U.S. multinational corporation Johnson & Johnson, only requires one shot and does not require ultra-cold storage.
Canada has been assessing the vaccine since Nov. 30, 2020, and approved the use of it last week, following the emergency use authorization of vaccines from three producers, namely Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and AstraZeneca.
The country has pre-ordered 10 million doses of Johnson & Johnson's vaccine, the first single dose COVID-19 vaccine in Canada's vaccine plan.
Chile
Cuba has spent more than US$150 million on the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, the country's Minister of Economy and Planning Alejandro Gil said here Tuesday.
"It is an exceptional and unprecedented situation with immeasurable impact due to the collateral damages provoked by the pandemic on human health aside from the nation's additional expenses," he told a press conference on the implementation of 2030 UN Agenda for Sustainable Development on the island.
Chile reported on Tuesday another 3,528 COVID-19 infections in the last 24 hours, bringing confirmed cases to 864,064, as well as 19 more deaths for a total of 21,182, the Health Ministry reported.
According to the ministry's daily report, infections have been on the rise in recent weeks, after the end of summer vacation in the southern hemisphere and the start of the school year this month, which has also increased hospital demand.
Cuba
Cuba's Public Health Ministry on Tuesday reported 1,041 new COVID-19 infections in the last 24 hours, to a total of 57,607 confirmed cases, along with two more deaths, bringing the death toll to 352.
"The 1,041 cases reported today constitute the second highest figure in the country since Feb. 2, when 1,065 cases were registered," the ministry's national director of hygiene and epidemiology Francisco Duran said in his daily report.
Of the total number of cases reported on Tuesday, 1,030 were from community transmission, "the highest figure in the last 15 days," according to Duran.
Ecuador
A total of 68,244 people in Ecuador have received the first dose of the vaccine against COVID-19 so far during "phase zero" of the country's vaccination plan, which started on Jan 21, Public Health Minister Rodolfo Farfan said on Tuesday.
"The vaccination plan is progressing … Phase zero has been completed among frontline personnel, doctors, nurses, other health personnel and in nursing homes," Farfan told local television.
The minister added that this week, phase 1 of the vaccination plan will begin, with the goal of immunizing 2 million people within priority groups, such as police forces, teachers, firefighters and vulnerable populations.
According to the ministry's daily report, Ecuador had 295,114 COVID-19 cases and 11,285 deaths as of Tuesday.
The South American country has also recorded another 4,784 "probable deaths" from COVID-19, though these have yet to be confirmed.
Ethiopia
Ethiopia registered 1,202 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, taking the nationwide tally to 168,335 as of Tuesday evening, the country's Ministry of Health said.
The ministry said nine new deaths from COVID-19 were reported across the country, bringing the national death toll to 2,451.
A healthcare worker administers a COVID-19 vaccine to a woman at a vaccination centre in the HIA Begin military hospital, in Saint-Mande, southeast of Paris, on March 7, 2021. (BERTRAND GUAY / POOL / AFP)
France
France on Tuesday reported 23,302 COVID-19 infections over the past 24 hours, while the number of hospitalized patients continued to rise, piling pressure on hospitals.
Since the outbreak, 3,932,862 people have been diagnosed with COVID-19 in France, the world's sixth-highest tally after the United States, India, Brazil, Russia and the United Kingdom, according to figures posted on the government's epidemic information website.
Six more people were hospitalized for the virus infection in the last 24 hours, taking the total to 25,201, while 3,918 patients were in intensive care, up by 69 from Monday, marking its highest level since Nov. 26.
In one day, the respiratory illness had claimed 368 lives, pushing the death toll to 89,301, the daily data showed.
Georgia
Georgia on Wednesday reported 513 new COVID-19 cases, taking its total to 273,650, according to the country's center for disease control.
Data from the National Center for Disease Control and Public Health showed that 96 more patients have recovered in the past 24 hours, taking the total number of recoveries to 267,1
Germany
Germany temporarily suspended certain types of aid to companies impacted by measures to contain the pandemic, due to suspicions that the money was illegally obtained in several cases.
Payments were halted to review documentation and will resume shortly, the Economy Ministry said in a statement late Tuesday. Criminal investigations are under way in several cases, the ministry said, declining to comment on specifics of the alleged fraud.
Ireland
Ireland's operating plan to vaccinate its people against COVID-19 has been changed 15 to 17 times due to the delayed supply of vaccines, said a senior public health official here on Tuesday.
Addressing a health committee of the Irish parliament, Paul Reid, CEO of Health Service Executive (HSE), said that Ireland can only expect to receive 1.1 million doses of vaccines by the end of March instead of the originally anticipated 1.24 million doses.
HSE is the top state agency responsible for public health service in Ireland. It is also responsible for the rollout of the vaccination program in the country.
Ireland first expected to receive 1.7 million doses of vaccines by the end of March based on its advanced purchase agreements with manufacturers, Paul told the committee members.
But this was first revised down to 1.4 million, then to 1.24 million due to the delayed supply of vaccines, which had resulted in 15 to 17 times of changes to the country's inoculation plan, he said, adding that the 1.24-million-dose target would not be achieved until the first week of April.
Currently three vaccines are used in Ireland, namely the ones developed by Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and AstraZeneca.
Kenya
Kenya approved the use of the Sputnik V COVID-19 shots for emergency purposes, according to the Russian Direct Investment Fund.
Other African nations that have allowed their use include Angola, the Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Ghana and Guinea, the sovereign fund said in a statement. Sputnik V has a 91.6% efficacy and provides full protection against severe cases of the illness, it said.
The shots can be stored at 2 Celsius to 8 Celsius, meaning they don’t require additional cold-chain infrastructure, according to the fund.
Mauritius
Mauritian Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth imposed a 16-day nationwide lockdown after the number of coronavirus infections doubled to 28.
Residents of the Indian Ocean island nation will be confined to their residences until March 25, Jugnauth said in a statement broadcast on national television. An island-wide vaccination program that began on Monday has been suspended until a new calendar is worked out, the government said in a separate statement.
Mexico
Mexico had a further 866 COVID-19 deaths, bringing the total to 191,789, according to the Health Ministry. Some 26 percent of general hospital beds are occupied, and 30 percent of beds with ventilators are occupied, it said. Mexico has administered 3,100,868 vaccine doses. with 605,801 people having received a second dose.
Morocco
Morocco announced on Tuesday 508 new COVID-19 cases, taking the tally in the North African country to 486,833.
The total number of recoveries from COVID-19 in Morocco increased to 473,208 after 644 more were added.
The death toll rose to 8,695 with 12 new fatalities during the last 24 hours, while 414 people were in intensive care units.
Portugal
Portugal endorsed AstraZeneca Plc for all age groups, even the elderly, in an updated recommendation. The prior advice was that the shot be “preferably” used for people age 65 and younger. The decision follows similar endorsements from France and Germany as real-life data show the vaccine protects older patients as well.
Russia
Russia on Wednesday reported 9,079 new COVID-19 cases, including 1,116 in Moscow, taking the national infection tally to 4,351,553 since the pandemic began.
The government coronavirus taskforce said that 466 people had died in past 24 hours, pushing its death toll to 90,275.
Scotland
Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon announced Tuesday that four people from two households will be able to meet outdoors in the region from Friday.
Scotland had previously aimed to relax the rules on outdoor mixing on March 15, but Sturgeon has now sped up that timetable.
"Strong grounds for hope" had been provided by a "significant" fall in new cases in recent weeks, along with falling numbers of deaths and hospital admissions, Sturgeon told the Scottish parliament.
According to Sturgeon, meetings of groups of four from two households will be allowed to happen locally in any outdoor space, including in private gardens.
The first minister also announced that outdoor non-contact sports and group exercise will also resume for adults in groups of up to 15 people from Friday.
Medical personnel of Hospital del Mar take COVID-19 patient, Marta Pascual, 72, back to the hospital after getting some fresh air by the sea, at the Barceloneta beach esplanade in Barcelona on March 4, 2021. (LLUIS GENE / AFP)
Switzerland
The first European company to reach a deal to produce Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine said it could start manufacturing as early as the third quarter.
Antonio Francesco Di Naro, founder and president of Adienne Pharma & Biotech SA, said Wednesday that his company had been selected to make the shot following an approach from Russia. The vaccine would be produced near Milan.
Spain
Spanish Minister for Industry, Trade and Tourism Reyes Maroto said on Tuesday that the country could reopen for international tourism in the spring if 30-40 percent of its population is vaccinated against the coronavirus.
In an interview on Canal Sur Radio, Maroto explained that if this happened, "we will be in a position to start reopening our (tourist) destinations, in line with what we are working on in the European Union."
She said Spain is working with the European Commission to develop "instruments that guarantee safe mobility," including the so-called vaccine passport, and Spain is preparing to carry out a pilot test on its use.
READ MORE: J&J 'under stress to meet EU vaccine supply goal'
UK
England’s COVID-19 test and trace system has not yet proven its worth as there is little evidence of its overall effectiveness, the British parliament’s Public Accounts Committee said on Wednesday, decrying the “unimaginable” costs of the programme.
The vast amounts spent on England’s test and trace system and its limited impact has drawn criticism, with opposition politicians calling for it to be run by the state-run health service.
The Public Accounts Committee said that Test and Trace had cost 23 billion pounds (US$32 billion) so far but had not achieved a key goal of avoiding a cycle of national lockdowns.
Another 5,766 people in Britain have tested positive for COVID-19, bringing the total number of coronavirus cases in the country to 4,228,998, according to official figures released Tuesday.
The country also reported another 231 coronavirus-related deaths. The total number of coronavirus-related deaths in Britain now stands at 124,797. These figures only include the deaths of people who died within 28 days of their first positive test.
The latest figures were revealed as more than 22.5 million people in Britain have been given the first jab of the coronavirus vaccine.
Earlier Tuesday, England's Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty warned that "big blocks of risk are being taken" as the country's coronavirus lockdown is being eased.
According to the modelling data considered by government's Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE), at least a further 30,000 coronavirus deaths could occur in the coming months, even under the most optimistic set of assumptions.
A student takes a COVID-19 Lateral flow test in the sports hall of Wilberforce college in Hull, northeast England on March 8, 2021 as schools reopen following the easing of lockdown restrictions. (PAUL ELLIS / AFP)
US
President Joe Biden will double the US order of Johnson & Johnson’s one-shot vaccine — seeking another 100 million doses — bringing the country’s supply to enough for 500 million people, officials familiar with the plan say.
Biden will make the announcement Wednesday during an event with the chief executives of J&J and Merck & Co., who struck a collaboration to boost production of the J&J vaccine. The U.S. had previously ordered 100 million doses, which the company has said will be delivered before the end of June. J&J and the government will finalize the new order in the coming weeks, one official said.
Several legal groups have demanded an Ohio judge apologize after he used the term "China Virus" in a column published in a local bar association's newsletter, local media reports said.
Lake County Common Pleas Court Judge John P. O'Donnell used the term "China Virus" three times in his article in the Lake Legal Views while addressing how he handled his duties during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Lake County Bar Association distributed the edition to its members last Wednesday, which quickly ignited a firestorm in the legal community.
US public health experts recently warned against the overhasty removal of COVID-19 restrictions and of a potential surge of a coronavirus variant, while some states are still rolling back anti-pandemic measures.
In an interview with CBS News on Sunday, top U.S. infectious disease specialist Anthony Fauci said "don't turn that switch (of restrictions) on and off because it really would be risky to have yet again another surge."
New York City's latest COVID-19 test positivity rate on a seven-day average reached 6.06 percent, compared with 6.23 percent one day earlier, Mayor Bill de Blasio tweeted on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, de Blasio said that there were 217 new hospital admissions and new cases of the coronavirus were 3,367. "The COVID-19 vaccines are working. If you're eligible, make an appointment today."
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe has authorised the emergency use of four COVID-19 vaccines, including Russia’s Sputnik V and China’s Sinovac, the minister of information said on Tuesday.
The southern African nation last month rolled out its COVID-19 vaccination programme after receiving a donation of 200,000 doses of shots from China National Pharmaceutical Group (Sinopharm).
Last week, India announced that Zimbabwe had become the first African country to authorise the use of its Covaxin vaccine.
