A picture taken on May 8, 2021 shows a sign of the World Health Organization at the entrance of their headquarters in Geneva amid the COVID-19 outbreak. (FABRICE COFFRINI / AFP)
BRUSSELS / GENEVA / LONDON / PARIS / PRAGUE – The World Health Organization's chief scientist, Soumya Swaminathan, said on Friday that the world was not yet at the end of the COVID-19 pandemic as there would be more coronavirus variants.
"We have seen the virus evolve, mutate … so we know there will be more variants, more variants of concern, so we are not at the end of the pandemic," Swaminathan told reporters in South Africa, where she was visiting vaccine manufacturing facilities with WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Also on Friday, the WHO said it had added its first monoclonal antibody tocilizumab to its so-called pre-qualification list, an official list of medicines used as a benchmark for procurement by developing countries.
The WHO recommended the drug, manufactured by Roche and typically used to treat arthritis, only for patients diagnosed with severe or critical COVID-19.
Belgium
Belgium will remove certain measures on masks, and restrictions on indoor and outdoor activities and the hospitality sector, after a decision by the Consultative Committee to move the country to 'code orange' on the COVID-19 scale.
A Covid Safe Ticket is still required to access certain public venues, although the Belgian Parliament will monitor the epidemiological situation to decide whether a CST is required in the future.
Except for indoor concerts which can reach a maximum of 70 percent capacity, public and private events will be limited to 200 people.
However, "for indoor events, if there is very good ventilation, the rooms can be used at 100 percent of their capacity", added the Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo.
Bars and restaurants will be able to stay open past midnight, and the current limit of four people per table will be removed.
Outdoor sporting venues such as football stadiums will reopen to the public, and weddings and funerals will no longer be required to limit the number of people present.
The current obligation for shoppers to be limited to two people per group, and the requirement for children under 12 to wear masks will be lifted on Feb 19.
Working from home will be only recommended, but no longer compulsory from Feb 18.
During the week of Feb 1-7, there was a 44 percent decrease in the number of infections, with 23,239 new cases recorded on average per day, according to figures published Friday by the Sciensano Public Health Institute.
Police are surrounded by onlooking protesters as they form a ring around protesters who intended to set up a tent structure in the intersection of Bank and Wellington Streets, on the 15th day of a protest against COVID-19 measures that has grown into a broader anti-government protest, in Ottawa, Feb 11, 2022. (JUSTIN TANG / THE CANADIAN PRESS VIA AP)
Canada
Canada is reviewing its pandemic-related border restrictions and will likely announce changes next week, as the worst of a Omicron variant-driven wave appears to have passed, Canada's health minister said on Friday.
"With the worst of Omicron now behind us, our government is actively reviewing the measures in place at our borders and we should be able to communicate changes on this next week," Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos told reporters.
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation earlier reported the federal government was close to removing mandatory COVID-19 PCR testing for fully vaccinated Canadians who travel outside Canada.
Canada requires all travelers entering the country to provide proof of a negative PCR test conducted within 72 hours of arrival. It also requires all non-essential foreign travelers to be fully-vaccinated.
The Czech Republic
Czech restaurant and hotel operators saw light at the end of the tunnel on Thursday as the government canceled rules requiring vaccination certificates to enter restaurants and events as Omicron infections started to ebb.
Hotels and restaurants in Prague, a prime tourist destination, have suffered badly throughout the pandemic and now hope restrictions will not come back.
The Czech Republic is the latest European country to ease restrictions, as the government hopes the peak of the Omicron wave is over. Sweden lifted most restrictions on Wednesday.
The country of 10.7 million has suffered one of the world's highest death tolls per capita with 37,660 victims to date. Daily infections peaked at 57,232 on Feb 1, falling to 29,059 on Wednesday.
Enforcement of the vaccination certificate requirement has been weak and many pubs did not require guests to show them. Some actively refused to follow the rules.
The government maintained a mask mandate indoors and on public transport, as well as limits to the size of audiences at culture and sports events.
Prime Minister Petr Fiala said on Wednesday that most remaining restrictions would be lifted from March.
In this file photo taken on April 16, 2021 a medical staff member prepares a syringe with a vial of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine at a pop up vaccine clinic at the Jewish Community Center in the Staten Island borough of New York City. (ANGELA WEISS / AFP)
The European Union
The European Medicines Agency's safety committee said on Friday it was reviewing reports of heavy menstrual bleeding and absence of menstruation from women who had received COVID vaccines from Pfizer / BioNTech and Moderna.
The assessment was in view of reports of menstrual disorders after receiving either of the two vaccines, both based on messenger RNA technology, and it was not yet clear whether there was a causal link, the agency said.
It was not yet clear whether there was a causal link between the vaccines and the reports, the agency said.
Vaccination against COVID-19 was linked with a small, temporary change in menstrual cycle length, according to a recent study funded by the National Institutes of Health
Menstrual disorders can occur due to a range of underlying medical conditions as well as from stress and tiredness, the EMA said, adding that cases of such disorders had also been reported following COVID-19 infection.
Vaccination against COVID-19 was linked with a small, temporary change in menstrual cycle length, according to a recent study funded by the National Institutes of Health, which collected data from nearly 4,000 users of a smartphone app that tracks menstrual cycles.
But the EMA said in December it had not established a link between changes in menstrual cycles and COVID-19 vaccines, after a study in Norway suggested some women had heavier periods after being inoculated.
After reviewing the available evidence, the EMA's Pharmacovigilance Risk Assessment Committeesaid it decided to request an evaluation of all available data, including reports from patients and healthcare professionals, clinical trials and the published literature.
The agency on Friday added that there was also no evidence to suggest that COVID-19 vaccines affected fertility.
France
France will begin easing COVID-19 restrictions when schools reopen after the February holidays, Minister of Education Jean-Michel Blanquer said here on Friday.
Students will return from the break on Feb 21 in the country's school holiday Zone A and on Feb 28 in Zone B.
Primary schools will move from a Level 3 COVID protocol to a more relaxed Level 2, he said.
The wearing of face masks will no longer be mandatory in schools' outdoor spaces and the individual educational institutions' safety rules will be determined at school rather than at class level.
Except contact sports, students will be allowed to play sports indoors without a mask.
Under the relaxed rules, students identified as close contacts of a positive COVID-19 case will only need to take one self-administered test instead of the current three.
Citing an "improvement in the health situation," Minister of Health Oliver Veran said on Friday that the updated rules will no longer require people to wear face masks indoors from Feb 28.
However, the mask mandate remains in force on public transportation and in indoor areas where the vaccine pass is not mandatory.
The United Kingdom
Britain reported 58,899 new COVID-19 cases and 193 deaths within 28 days of a positive test on Friday, according to government data.
The number of cases in the last seven days has fallen 28.7 percent compared with the previous seven days, while deaths have fallen 22.5 percent.
The United States
A US decision on Pfizer and BioNTech's COVID-19 vaccine for infants and children 6 months through 4 years of age has been postponed for at least two months after the Food and Drug Administration said it needed more data.
The FDA had planned to decide on the vaccine based on early trial data as soon as next week with the government planning to roll it out on Feb 21. It had asked Pfizer to speed up its application as the Omicron variant of the coronavirus caused a surge of infections, including among children.
On Friday, the agency said it had reviewed new trial information that arrived after Pfizer and BioNTech's request for emergency authorization and decided it needed more data before weighing in on the authorization.
The FDA said parents anxiously awaiting the vaccine for the roughly 18 million children in the age group should be reassured that the agency is taking the time to make sure it meets the standard it has set for authorization.
Pfizer and BioNTech had submitted data on the first two doses of a planned three-dose regimen earlier this month at the request of the FDA. It did not disclose efficacy data.
The companies said on Friday that they expect to have data on three shots in early April.
The primary series of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine has been two doses in all older age groups. But Pfizer began testing a third dose of the vaccine in the younger age group because early results showed the lower dose generated an immune response in 2- to 4-year-olds that was inferior to the response measured in those aged 16 to 25 in previous clinical trials.
In 6- month- to 24-month-old children, the vaccine generated an immune response in line with 16- to 25-year-olds.
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The delay may be disappointing for harried parents of younger children who have had to contend with quarantines and closures of preschools and day care centers.
Dr. Amesh Adalja, an infectious disease expert at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, said there had been considerable pushback among scientists about the FDA's decision to pursue authorization so quickly. "This age group is very low risk for severe disease and vaccine uptake in the 5-11 (age group) has been very suboptimal," he said.
"It’s critical that people have confidence in the process if higher vaccine uptake is the goal," Adalja said.
