WHO says Covid boosters needed yearly for most vulnerable – latest updates

Thursday, June 24

WHO: Covid-19 boosters needed yearly for most vulnerable

The World Health Organization (WHO) has forecast that people most vulnerable, such as the elderly, will need to get an annual vaccine booster to be protected against variants, an internal document seen by Reuters news agency shows.

The estimate is included in a report, which is to be discussed on Thursday at a board meeting of Gavi, a vaccine alliance that co-leads the WHO's vaccine programme COVAX. 

The forecast is subject to changes and is also paired with two other less likely scenarios.

Pfizer says vaccine is highly effective against Delta variant

The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is highly effective against the Delta variant, a Pfizer official in Israel has said.

"The data we have today, accumulating from research we are conducting at the lab and including data from those places where the Indian variant, Delta, has replaced the British variant as the common variant, point to our vaccine being very effective, around 90 percent, in preventing the coronavirus disease, COVID-19," Alon Rappaport, Pfizer's medical director in Israel, told local broadcaster Army Radio.

Swiss data shows vaccinated people seldom hit by virus

Switzerland's move to allow large public events with 10,000-plus people from Saturday has come as government data appears to show vaccines are helping control new infections that are mostly hitting people who remain unprotected.

Only 209 of 180,000 new infections recorded in Switzerland between January 27 and June 21 were in people fully vaccinated with shots from Moderna or Pfizer and Germany's BioNTech, according to Swiss Federal Health Ministry data provided to Reuters.

Tunisian wards fill up as cases rise rapidly

Tunisia has seen seeing a significant increase in cases, with intensive care wards almost full, an adviser to the government said.

"A Covid tsunami is hitting the country as the number of positive tests is very high, the number of deaths sometimes exceeds 100 per day, and intensive care beds are almost full," said Amenallah Messadi, a member of the independent scientific committee that advises the government.

The committee called for extending hours of the night curfew, imposing a full lock down in governorates where the epidemic is spreading widely, and barring all sports gatherings.

Study: Covid-19 can infect brain cells

The virus can infect brain cells, leading to a reaction that could possibly trigger neurological and psychological complaints, Dutch researchers have said.

Although the spread of the virus rapidly stops, leading to limited damage after entering the brain via the nose, it triggers cytokines, small proteins that act as messengers within the immune system, said the study published in the US-based mSphere microbiology journal.

"These can play a role in local infections... that possibly contribute to neurological and psychological complaints among many (ex) patients ," said the study, done by the Erasmus University Medical Centre in Rotterdam.

Nearly all US deaths are now among unvaccinated

Nearly all virus deaths in the US now have been in people who weren’t vaccinated, a staggering demonstration of how effective the shots have been and an indication that deaths per day — now down to under 300 — could be practically zero if everyone eligible got the vaccine.

An Associated Press analysis of available government data from May shows that “breakthrough” infections in fully vaccinated people accounted for fewer than 1,200 of more than 853,000  hospitalisations. That’s about 0.1 percent.

And only about 150 of the more than 18,000 deaths in May were in fully vaccinated people.

Africa battles new wave hitting faster and harder

Africa is facing a devastating resurgence of infections whose peak will surpass that of earlier waves as the continent's countries struggle to vaccinate even a small percentage of the population, top health officials have said.

“The third wave is picking up speed, spreading faster, hitting harder," Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa, said.

"With rapidly rising case numbers and increasing reports of serious illness, the latest surge threatens to be Africa’s worst yet,” she said in a weekly briefing. “Africa can still blunt the impact of these fast-rising infections, but the window of opportunity is closing.

Merkel: Europe 'on thin ice' amid delta virus variant rise

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said that Europe is “on thin ice” in its battle against the coronavirus, as the highly contagious delta variant threatens to undo progress made in reducing infections.

In what may be her last government declaration to the German parliament, Merkel said the further response to the pandemic would be a main topic of discussion among European Union leaders at a meeting in Brussels on Thursday.

She noted that the number of virus cases in the 27-nation bloc continue to decline, while vaccination rates climb.

Russia's new cases surge to highest since January

Russia has reported 20,182 new virus cases, the most confirmed in a single day since January 24, amid a wave of infections that authorities blame on the Delta variant and the slow progress of the vaccination programme.

The government coronavirus task force also confirmed 568 virus-related deaths in the last 24 hours. Both Moscow and St Petersburg recorded the most deaths in a single day since the pandemic began. 

Hong Kong bans passenger flights from Indonesia over virus fears

Hong Kong will ban passenger flights from Indonesia from Friday, deeming the country's arrivals "extremely high risk" for the virus.

The Hong Kong government said late on Wednesday it was suspending flights after the number of imported virus cases from Indonesia crossed thresholds set by the global financial hub.

Hong Kong has already banned arrivals from India, Nepal, Pakistan and the Philippines, using a flight suspension rule triggered when there are five or more passengers who test positive for one of the variant virus cases on arrival, or 10 or more passengers found to have any strain of the disease while in quarantine.

Turkey administers nearly 45M vaccine shots

Turkey has administered nearly 45 million doses of vaccines since it launched a mass vaccination campaign in mid-January, according to official figures.

More than 30 million people have received their first doses, while over 14.6 million have been fully vaccinated, the Health Ministry count showed.

As of Thursday morning, 5.78 million people have received their first doses in Istanbul while more than 2.49 million people received their first doses in the capital Ankara. 

The ministry data also showed that over 2 million people received their first jab of virus vaccines in the western Izmir province.

Japan emperor appears 'concerned' about virus spread by Games – Kyodo

Japanese Emperor Naruhito appears concerned about the possibility the Olympic Games could cause the virus to spread as feared by many in the public, Kyodo News quoted an official at the Imperial Household Agency (IHA) as saying.

"The emperor is extremely worried about the current status of infections," IHA Grand Steward Yasuhiko Nishimura told a regular news conference on Thursday, according to Kyodo.

"Given the public's worries, he appears to be concerned about whether the event would cause infections to spread."

India reports 54,069 new cases

India has registered 54,069 new infections and 1,321 more deaths from Covid-19, bringing the country's totals to more than 30.08 million cases and 391,981 fatalities.

Germany reports 1,008 cases - RKI

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany has increased by 1,008 to 3,724,806, data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases showed on Thursday. The reported death toll rose by 93 to 90,616, the tally showed. 

Indonesia jails cleric for four years over spread of false virus information

An Indonesian court has jailed cleric Rizieq Shihab for four years for spreading false information in a video saying he was healthy despite having tested positive for the virus.

The verdict comes after an eight-month jail term handed last month to Rizieq, the spiritual leader of the Islamic Defender's Front (FPI), for breaching coronavirus curbs over several mass events, including his daughter's wedding, which was attended by thousands.

Britain wants to allow travel again but is wary – minister

Britain wants to allow people to have holidays abroad again but the government is wary of the risks, a minister said ahead of an announcement on whether a narrow list of quarantine-free travel destinations would be expanded.

Anger is growing at Britain's onerous restrictions on foreign travel: pilots, cabin crew, travel agents and other workers from the travel industry held protests on Wednesday, begging the government to open up more routes.

British citizens are essentially prevented from travelling to most countries – including those in the European Union – as quarantine and testing rules are so cumbersome and expensive.

Taiwan reports 129 cases

Taiwan has reported 129 new domestic infections, up from 104 a day earlier.

Mexico's death toll nears 232,000

Mexico's health ministry reported 4,963 new confirmed cases of in the country and 342 more fatalities, bringing the total figures to 2,487,747 infections and 231,847 deaths.

The government has said the real number of cases is likely significantly higher, and separate data published in March suggested the actual death toll is at least 60% above the confirmed figure.

Experts: Benefits of vaccine outweigh small heart risk in teens

US federal officials plan to strengthen cautions about a rare side effect of some vaccines, chest pain and heart inflammation, mostly among teenagers and young adults.

But in an unusual joint statement, top US government health officials, medical organisations, laboratory and hospital associations and others stressed the overriding benefit of the vaccines.

“The facts are clear: this is an extremely rare side effect, and only an exceedingly small number of people will experience it after vaccination. Importantly, for the young people who do, most cases are mild, and individuals recover often on their own or with minimal treatment,” the statement said.

There does seem to be a link between the Pfizer and Moderna shots and some cases of heart inflammation, experts said at a meeting of an outside panel that advises the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on vaccinations.

The problem appears to be most common in young men after they receive their second of two doses, but it is nevertheless rare overall: There have been 323 confirmed reports of the inflammation in people younger than 30, and the vast majority recovered from their symptoms.

Puerto Ricans get vaccinated on beaches

Health officials in Puerto Rico took to the beaches to vaccinate people as crowds began to arrive to celebrate a local tradition.

Dozens of doses were administered near the ocean in the capital of Puerto Rico, a US territory of 3.3 million people where 70% of people have received their first dose. 

Another 1.58 million people in Puerto Rico have received their second dose.

Authorities said they wanted to take advantage of the crowds heading to the beach to celebrate the “Night of San Juan,” which marks the birth of St. John the Baptist.

Puerto Rico has reported more than 122,800 confirmed cases and more than 2,000 deaths.

Brazil sets new single-day record with over 115,000 cases

Brazil registered a single-day record of 115,228 new confirmed cases in the past 24 hours along with 2,392 deaths.

Brazil has registered more than 18 million cases since the pandemic began, while the official death toll has risen to 507,109, according to ministry data.

US to send 3M J&J doses to Brazil

The United States on Thursday will ship 3 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson one-shot vaccine to Brazil, the country with the second-highest virus death toll in the world, a White House official said.

The shipment - part of Washington's pledge to donate 80 million vaccines - will depart Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on an Azul Airlines flight Thursday evening, bound for Campinas, a city in southeastern Brazil about 100 km from Sao Paulo, the official said.

The donation comes as Brazil continues to battle the virus, which has claimed over half a million lives, aggravating deep political divides ahead of next year's presidential election and sparking unrest around the country.

Israel holds up tourist entries as Delta variant spreads

Israel announced a delay to the renewed entry of individual tourists and said it could take other steps to counter the spread of the Delta variant despite the country's high vaccination rate.

"Due to concern over the potential spread of the Delta variant, the government has postponed the entry of individual tourists by one month to August 1," the tourism ministry said.

Israel will however continue to allow in vaccinated tourists in small groups from certain countries, after taking two PCR tests and another for anti-bodies, a ministry spokeswoman told AFP.

Some 600 tourists have visited since Israel launched a pilot programme at the end of May, she said.

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said that if more than 100 new cases are recorded each day for a week, the wearing of masks indoors will be reinstated.

His warning came as Israel registered over 100 new cases for a third consecutive day, after weeks in which the daily average was between 12 and two dozen.