US Restrictions Increase As Emergency Vaccine Request Filed – Manila Bulletin

Americans were facing a growing series of coronavirus restrictions on Friday, even as pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and its partner BioNTech prepared to submit an emergency request to launch its vaccine.

California announced a nightly curfew and authorities urged people around the world not to travel for Thanksgiving as the country was hit by a surge of more than 2,200 deaths, the worst daily toll since may.

The spike comes as India surpassed nine million infections since the pandemic began, with hospitals in the capital Delhi under immense pressure.

The global outbreak shows no signs of abating after killing more than 1.35 million people and infecting 56 million, and many governments pin their hopes on several promising vaccine candidates to end the misery.

An emergency use authorization request for the vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech was expected to be submitted to the US Food and Drug Administration on Friday, the government and BioNTech co-founder said.

Health Secretary Alex Azar said in a briefing at the White House that the request would arrive the next day, confirming a timeline that BioNTech co-founder Ugur Sahin shared with AFP.

“The documents will be finalized today and tomorrow and will be sent to the FDA,” Sahin told AFP.

Moncef Slaoui, chief scientist for the US operation to develop a vaccine, said the final green light would likely come in December, a deadline echoed by Sahin.

The European Union could also approve the vaccine, as well as another from Moderna before the end of next month, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Thursday.

The two candidates have taken the lead in the global search for a solution, after large-scale test data this month showed their punches were about 95 percent effective.

But the speed at which vaccines have been developed has caused alarm in some quarters.

America’s top infectious disease official, Anthony Fauci, tried to allay those concerns during a rare White House task force briefing on Thursday.

“The speed process did not compromise safety at all or compromise scientific integrity. It was a reflection of the extraordinary scientific advances in these types of vaccines, ”Fauci said.

In China, nearly a million people have already taken an experimental coronavirus vaccine developed by the Chinese company Sinopharm, the firm said on Friday, although it has yet to provide any clear clinical evidence of efficacy.

The country has been administering Covid-19 experimental vaccines to people, including state employees, international students, and essential workers heading abroad since July.

Beijing has been optimistic about the science, with four vaccines now in late testing.

– ‘Strong recommendation’ –

The recent surge in infections in the US has alarmed authorities enough to request that Americans stay home for next week’s Thanksgiving holiday, which is normally traveled by millions.

“It is not a requirement. It’s a strong recommendation, ”Henry Walke, a physician with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told reporters.

US states and cities have been imposing their own restrictions, including home confinement, indoor food closings and meeting limits as infections skyrocket across the country.

New York City closed its schools Thursday, affecting 1.1 million students, but left gyms and bars open.

California will impose a curfew from 10 pm to 5 am starting Saturday, and the state’s Governor, Gavin Newsom, said it was “crucial in reducing transmission and delaying hospitalizations.”

India is now the second most affected country in the world in terms of infections and has recorded more than 132,000 deaths, according to the latest official figures.

New Delhi, facing the double scourge of winter pollution and coronavirus, has seen cases surpass half a million with a record increase in daily cases.

On Thursday, the megacity government quadrupled fines for not wearing a mask in an effort to control the outbreak.

Many families struggle to find hospital beds for sick relatives.

“My father’s oxygen saturation level suddenly dropped to 35 percent and we rushed to the nearby hospital, but there were no beds available,” Delhi resident Rajeev Nigam told AFP.

“We ran all night from one hospital to another, but it was the same story everywhere.”

Meanwhile, in South Australia, a six-day lockdown for the state’s nearly two million residents will be broken two days after a pizzeria worker clarified his movements after misleading contact markers.

Authorities said a man who claimed to be a customer of the establishment, leading authorities to believe that the strain was virulent enough to be transmitted through a takeout box, actually worked there.

“His story didn’t add up. We chase them. Now we know they lied, “said Prime Minister Steven Marshall.