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A World Health Organization official has said that only public health measures, not vaccines, can prevent a further increase in COVID-19 cases when the first vaccines are administered in Britain.
The UK started rolling out the COVID-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech, the first Western country to start vaccinating its population against the novel coronavirus infection.
Turkey could start administering China’s Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine at the end of the month after the analysis for national licensing is completed, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca told a national newspaper.
And Japan announces a new $ 708 billion economic stimulus package to accelerate the recovery from the country’s deep slide driven by the coronavirus.
Here are the latest updates:
Israel to Receive Initial Shipment of Pfizer Coronavirus Vaccine Thursday: Minister
Israel will receive a first shipment of coronavirus vaccines from Pfizer Inc. and administer them to the elderly and other high-risk populations, a cabinet minister said.
Pfizer and its partner BioNTech agreed last month to provide Israel with 8 million doses of the vaccine, which Britain became the first country to administer.
Intelligence Minister Eli Cohen confirmed media reports that a first batch would fly to Tel Aviv from Chicago on Thursday.
India May Authorize Some COVID-19 Vaccines In Weeks: Health Secretary
India’s government regulator may license some COVID-19 vaccine developers in the coming weeks, the country’s top health official said.
Six vaccines, including Covidshield from Astra Zeneca and Covaxin from Bharat Biotech, are in the testing stages, federal health secretary Rajesh Bhushan said at a news conference.
Bhushan said that Bharat Biotech had applied for emergency use authorization from the Indian drug regulator for its COVID-19 vaccine. Pfizer and Astra Zeneca have already applied for emergency use authorization in India.
WHO says vaccine immune barrier ‘is still far away’
A World Health Organization official said that only public health measures, not vaccines, can prevent a further increase in COVID-19 cases.
“Vaccines are a great tool, they will be very useful, but the effect of the vaccine to provide some kind of immune barrier is still a long way off,” said Dr. Margaret Harris in response to a question at a conference in Geneva about whether vaccines it would arrive in time to prevent a third wave of cases in Europe.
“The things that must be done to avoid a surge, a rebound, a surge or whatever you want to call it are public health measures,” he added.
Japan sends military nurses to Hokkaido to tackle coronavirus: media
Japanese Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi has ordered the country’s Self-Defense Forces to send nurses to a city in northern Hokkaido prefecture that was hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic, media said.
Kishi ordered the dispatch of two teams of five nurses from the Self-Defense Forces to hospitals in the city of Asahikawa, public broadcaster NHK said.
Poland has purchased more than 60 million doses of COVID-19: PM vaccine
Poland has purchased more than 60 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines from six producers, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said.
“We are confident, and now is the time for a great challenge, which is the implementation of the National COVID-19 Vaccination Program,” he wrote in a Facebook post.
Bio Farma – Sinovac Vaccine Interim Data Shows Up To 97 Percent Efficacy
Indonesia’s state pharmaceutical company Bio Farma said provisional data on trials it was conducting with vaccines produced by the Chinese company Sinovac showed efficacy of up to 97 percent.
“Our clinical trial team found, within a month, that interim data shows up to 97% efficacy,” Iwan Setiawan, spokesperson for Bio Farma, told a news conference.
He did not elaborate on whether the interim result was from a late-stage clinical trial, but another Bio Farma spokesperson later told the Reuters news agency that the company is still collecting data on the efficacy of the ongoing phase 3 trial.
UK’s Hancock hopes to start lifting COVID curbs from spring
British Health Minister Matt Hancock said he expected life to return to normal starting in the spring of next year, following the launch of a coronavirus vaccine on Tuesday.
“As we have been able to launch this vaccination program earlier than anywhere else in the world, we will be able to advance that date a bit. I have high hopes for the summer of 2021 and hope that we can remove the spring restrictions, ”Hancock told the BBC.
Hong Kong to limit meals, close gyms and beauty salons
Hong Kong said the city would again ban restaurant meals after 6 p.m. (10:00 GMT) and close all gyms and beauty salons, to curb the increase in coronavirus cases in the densely populated financial center.
Executive Director Carrie Lam said the government would also study additional aid measures for industries affected by the latest restrictions that take effect on Thursday, having been repeatedly applied and lifted this year.
“The situation is very worrying. This wave is more complicated and more severe than the last wave. Confirmed cases are widespread, ”Lam told reporters at a weekly press conference. “If we don’t control it strictly, there will be greater risks. This time we will implement repression measures aimed at limiting the flow of pedestrian traffic on the streets ”.
UK Minister Says Will Take COVID-19 Hit When Appropriate
British Health Minister Matt Hancock said he would receive the COVID-19 vaccine when appropriate.
“I’m looking forward to it, I’ll have it when it’s appropriate,” Hancock told LBC radio.
When asked if London would soon move to the top tier of coronavirus restrictions, he said the number of cases was increasing in some parts of London and Londoners should abide by the current rules.
Fauci warns of COVID-19 surge after Christmas in the US.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, America’s leading infectious disease expert, warned that the upcoming holiday season may be even worse than Thanksgiving in terms of the spread of the coronavirus.
Fauci told CNN that because the traditional holiday season is an extended period that runs through the New Year, the prospects for spreading the virus as people travel “may be even more complicated than what we saw in Thanksgiving. Thank you”.
After millions of people ignored the experts’ advice and traveled for the Thanksgiving holiday in November, Fauci anticipated that Americans would again behave recklessly during the Christmas and New Years holidays.
Turkey May Start Chinese COVID-19 Vaccination This Month: Report
Turkey could start administering China’s Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine by the end of the month after the analysis for national licensing is completed, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca was quoted as saying by the Sozcu newspaper.
Koca said shipments of the Coronavac vaccine from Sinovac will arrive after Dec. 11. The vaccine, which has undergone phase 3 trials in Turkey and other countries, will need another two weeks of testing and analysis, according to the newspaper.
In November, Turkey signed a contract to purchase 50 million doses of Coronavac, which will be delivered in batches between December and February.
UK’s Johnson Thanks Healthcare Workers After COVID Vaccine Launch
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson welcomed the start of a COVID vaccination program and thanked the healthcare workers, scientists and individuals who had volunteered for the tests.
“We are going to get through this together,” Johnson said in a message on social media, urging the public to continue to follow guidelines aimed at limiting the spread of the coronavirus.
British grandmother is first person to receive Pfizer vaccine outside of trial
Margaret Keenan, a 90-year-old grandmother from Great Britain, has become the first person in the world to receive the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine outside of a trial following its rapid clinical approval, Reuters reported.
Keenan was hit at his local hospital in Coventry, central England, on Tuesday morning at 06:31 GMT, a week before his 91st birthday.
“I feel very privileged to be the first person to be vaccinated against COVID-19,” Keenan said.
India reports smallest daily increase in COVID-19 cases since July
India has reported 26,567 new coronavirus infections, data from the Health Ministry showed, the lowest daily increase since July 10, according to a Reuters tally.
Daily cases have been falling in India since they peaked in September. The country has 9.7 million cases, the second highest number of cases in the world after the United States.
Deaths increased by 385, the Health Ministry said, with a total now of 140,958.
A healthcare worker takes a swab sample from a woman to test for COVID-19 on the side of a road in Jammu, India [AP]Western Australia state removes quarantine requirements for more travelers
The state of Western Australia has begun allowing travelers from Victoria and New South Wales (NSW) to enter without having to self-quarantine for the first time in eight months, the latest sign that the country is returning to some kind of normalcy. .
Passengers on a Qantas flight arrived in Perth, the capital of Western Australia, from Sydney to emotional scenes of families reunited after months of separation.
The move comes as Australia’s two most populous states have seen few to no new cases in recent weeks, and underscores Australia’s success in containing the COVID-19 pandemic, which has killed more than 1.5 million people. people all over the world.
Germany’s confirmed coronavirus cases rise by 14,054: RKI
The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany has risen from 14,054 to 1,197,709, data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases shows.
The reported death toll rose from 423 to 19,342, the tally showed.
Japan Reveals $ 708 Billion in New Stimulus for COVID-19 Recovery
Japan has announced a new $ 708 billion economic stimulus package to accelerate the recovery from the country’s deep depression driven by the coronavirus, while also targeting investment in new growth areas such as green and digital innovation.
The new package will include about 40 trillion yen ($ 384.54 billion) in direct fiscal spending and initiatives aimed at reducing carbon emissions and boosting the adoption of digital technology, Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said in a meeting with party executives. ruler.
Lawmakers globally have unleashed a wall of monetary and fiscal stimulus to prevent a deep and prolonged recession as the coronavirus closed international borders and put millions out of work.
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