Coronavirus Live News: Former French President Covid dies due to complications; Global Death Near 1.5m | World News

Brazil’s health director Anvisa said on Wednesday he was open to approving Covid-19 vaccines for emergency use and outlined requirements for companies seeking to do so, Reuters reported.

Anvisa said the authorizations would be analyzed on a case-by-case basis and that the vaccine should be considered in late-stage tests in Brazil. It said no requests have been received yet.

AstraZeneca, Johnson and Johnson, Pfizer and Synovac currently have the vaccine in third-stage testing in Brazil.

The regulator said manufacturers should still take general registration for their vaccines. On Tuesday, the Brazilian Ministry of Health unveiled a preliminary plan for national vaccinations, giving priority to indigenous peoples, health workers and people aged 75 and over.

The ministry said it had confirmed the use of 142.9 million doses of the vaccine against Covid-19.

Of that, 100.4 million doses are under contract with AstraZeneca, and another 14.5 million through the Covax facility under the co-leadership of the World Health Organization.

Health Minister Eduardo Pazuelo told lawmakers on Wednesday that Brazil would begin receiving about 15 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine between January and February, reaching 100 million doses by the middle of the year.

NewsHub reports that New Zealand has confirmed nine new cases, all in management isolation and quarantine facilities, and four of them are active.

The other five are historical.

Two are members of the Pakistan cricket team in historical cases.

The four active cases are made up of a man who arrived in the country from the UK on November 29, two people who flew from Qatar on November 21 and another who arrived from the US on November 30, Newsab reported.

Eli Lilly and Coe said Wednesday that the U.S. government has purchased 650,000 additional doses of its Covid-19 antibody drug for 812.5 million.

The dose will be delivered by January 31, with a minimum of 350,000 in December, the company said.

U.S. The drug has been authorized for emergency use by the Food and Drug Administration, and the government purchased 300,000 doses in October.

The new purchase is part of a U.S. effort to secure about 1 million doses of Lily’s Bamlanivimab. As part of a government deal, the treatment was similar to the Kovid-19 antibody treatment Regenron Pharmaceuticals Inc. received in October during US President Donald Trump’s illness.

This therapy is a class of drugs called monoclonal antibodies that mimic antibodies made by the body to fight infection.
Lily expects to produce 10 million doses of Bamlanivimab for worldwide use early next year by the end of 2020.

According to Johns Hopkins University, global covid mortality is close to 1.5 m. There are 64.3m cases worldwide.

In the past week, the global daily toll has regularly been above 11,000, with more than 12,000 seen in the last seven days.

Former French President Valerie Giscard Desting has died of complications associated with Covid-19, his foundation said Wednesday.

Giscard, 94, who served as France’s leader from 1974 to 1981, was recently hospitalized in Tours with respiratory problems. He recovered but re-entered in mid-November.

“His condition worsened and he died as a result of Covid-19,” his family told AFP in a statement.

Foundation Valerie Giscard Desting said on Twitter: “According to his wishes, his funeral will take place in strict family intimacy.”

He was known for guiding the modernization of French society during his presidency, including allowing for consensual divorce and legalizing abortion, and was one of the architects of European unification:

Welcome to today’s live coverage of the coronavirus epidemic.

My name is Helen Sullivan and I will bring you the latest for a few hours.

You can find me on Twitter (singing and screaming are both options) helenrsullivan.

Former French President Valerie Giscard Desting died Wednesday from complications associated with Covid-19, his foundation said. Giskard was hospitalized in September with shortness of breath. He recovered but re-entered in mid-November. He was 94 years old.

Meanwhile the global covid mortality is close to 1.5m with 1,488,992. According to Johns Hopkins University, there are currently more than 10,000 deaths worldwide on a regular basis. There are 64.3m cases worldwide.

Here are the other major developments of the last few hours.

• Germany will extend the restricted measures to prevent the outbreak of the new Kovid-19 infection until January 10. Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Wednesday after talks with German state leaders. The measures, which expire on December 20, include closing restaurants and hotels and restricting private gatherings to five people in two homes.
• Spain has pushed the end-of-year parties to 10 and banned domestic travel. The Spanish government agreed with regional officials on Wednesday that a maximum of 10 people per household would be allowed to gather for the Christmas and New Year holidays to prevent the spread of coronavirus, Health Minister Salvador Ila said.
• Vaccines will not prevent the spread of short-term coronavirus – WHO expert. The World Health Organization (WHO) does not believe there will be an adequate supply of coronavirus vaccines in the next three to six months to stem the rise in the number of infections, its top emergency expert said.
• The EU says the UK boosted public confidence in the vaccine. The European Medical Agency has suggested that British regulators prioritize speed to win public confidence so that the UK becomes the first Western country to license a coronavirus vaccine.
• France will investigate the border to prevent skiers from spreading covid. The Prime Minister, Jeanne Kastex, said France would inspect the Russian border during the holiday season, targeting French skiers heading to foreign resorts, especially to Switzerland and Spain, where the ferry would remain open.
• Beware of fake coronavirus vaccines, Interpol says. Interpol has issued a global warning to law enforcement agencies around the world that they have been warned that the organized crime network may try to sell a fake Covid-19 vaccine or steal real supplies.
• Putin has ordered Russia to start mass Covid-19 vaccinations. President Vladimir Putin has ordered Russian officials to begin mass voluntary vaccinations against Kovid-19 next week, as Russia reports 589 new deaths a day from the coronavirus.
• North America is recording the daily Covid-19 case. The death toll from Covid-1 deaths in the United States rose nearly 0% in November compared to the end of October, while North America was registering daily cases, said Carissa Etine, the WHO’s regional director.