World News – AU – Latest Coronavirus News: Â The approval of Oxford-AstraZenca vaccine will help expedite critical vaccination in nursing homes

The approval of the Oxford-AstraZenca vaccine will help accelerate critical vaccination in nursing homes, an expert said today.

The Telegraph has exclusively announced that the Medicines and Healthcare Regulator will release the vaccine on Jan.. or 29. December will approve after the final data was provided to the regulator on Monday.

This morning, Prof. Martin Marshall, the chairman of the Royal College of GPs, said it would accelerate the adoption of the coronavirus vaccination program in nursing homes. « Right now we are dealing with this Pfizer vaccine, which is difficult, » he told BBC Radio 4 Today.

« Assuming we get approval for the AstraZeneca vaccine, which is much more familiar because it is much more similar to the flu shot, I think we will be able to roll out much faster, but certainly expect we in the next few weeks and months that all nursing homes are covered. « 

Meanwhile, former Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt said of the program, « It’s going to make a huge difference because the doses we have of the Pfizer vaccine will keep us going through January, and I think , we are not. « Another delivery by March.

« So if we could have the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine up and running by January, we could continue rolling out at its current pace. « 

The news of the vaccine surge comes as it emerged that stricter coronavirus restrictions could be announced today after initial analysis of a new variant of the virus in England found it « growing faster than existing variants ». .

Jeremy Farrar, director of the Wellcome Trust, said the new strain of coronavirus found in England was of concern and a real cause for concern and extra caution. â ????

These changes can move the virus in any epidemiological direction. Virus development could reduce the transmission virulence of &. But worry & early evidence, is changes lead to higher viral infections, more virus, higher transmission, higher r. Knowing too early what the clinical implications of &’s virulence are

Shadow Health Secretary Jonathan Ashworth has called on Boris Johnson to address the nation on how he plans to contain the spread of the coronavirus.

« It has been apparent for a few days that the virus is spiraling out of control in parts of the country. The tiered system of government has not been able to contain its spread, « he said in a statement.

« This is an incredibly serious moment and people are concerned. The prime minister has refused to take any action to limit the spread of the virus over Christmas. All he has offered so far is confusion and indecision.

A second wave of Covid-19 cases has struck several large sub-Saharan African countries as concerns grow that the continent is lagging behind in the global race for coronavirus vaccine stocks. â ?? ¨

The continent of more than 1. 1 billion people have dodged the apocalyptic mass death scenarios that many Western experts predicted earlier this year.

Sub-Saharan Africa has around 25. 000 confirmed deaths and 1 recorded. 6 million cases, a fraction of the global case load.

Experts say this is primarily due to the lockdown measures put in place by African governments and the fact that Africans tend to be much younger, fitter, and more rural than the average Italian or American. â ?? ¨

But officials across Africa are now preparing for an avalanche of infections. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), coronavirus cases and deaths in the region have increased 40 percent in the past week. .

China will aim to vaccinate all « key groups » – including workers in the cold chain industry, customs, healthcare, markets and public transport – during winter and spring, a senior health official said on Saturday Briefing with.

China will use the vaccination program to create a « group shield » that will give the public active immunity, said Zeng Yixin, vice minister of China’s National Health Commission and director of the vaccine research and development working group.

The global alliance, which was formed to ensure poorer countries don’t miss out on Covid-19 vaccines, is slated to start distributing the doses early next year, it confirmed on Friday.

The Covax initiative, launched by the World Health Organization Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (Cepi), has achieved its goal of receiving two billion doses of various coronavirus vaccines.

While there is still a long way to go, the initiative still needs around $ 6. 8 billion. to distribute and fund further vaccine development – the news suggests that fears that developing countries may fall behind in the search for a vaccine may prove to be exaggerated.

Sweden tightened nationwide restrictions on coronavirus by requiring many people to work from home and starting next week reducing the number of people who can gather in restaurants, shops and gyms.

However, the government has decided not to order the country’s first full lockdown to control a recent surge in virus cases, Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven said on Friday.

India’s coronavirus passed the 10 million mark on Saturday, the second highest in the world, although the number of new daily cases has fallen sharply since peaking in mid-September.

In the last 24 hours. 152 new infections and 347 deaths reported, data from the Department of Health showed. The virus has 145 so far. 136 people killed in the country.

After a high of almost 98 in September. 000 cases has been reached, the daily cases are on average 27. 000 dropped.

Tighter restrictions on the coronavirus could be announced on Saturday after an initial analysis of a new variant of the virus in England found it « growing faster than existing variants ». .

It prompted Boris Johnson to convene an unscheduled meeting of senior ministers on Friday evening to discuss how to contain the new variant, which was largely confined to London and the south-east.

Experiments with the new strain have confirmed ministers’ fears that it is far more contagious than the original strain.

Much of the southeast was rated Tier 3 by the government on Thursday, but the new information on the mutant strain’s portability is so worrying that ministers fear immediate action.

Travel restrictions are among the measures under discussion. One source suggests that the government could restrict travel between the southeast and other parts of the country.

An alternative would be to forbid commuters from traveling to London after the Kentish mutant tribe quickly spread to London and then home countries.

Italy has ordered a nationwide lockdown during much of the Christmas and New Years period to counter a surge in coronavirus cases.

The country is subject to the « red zone » restrictions on public holidays as non-essential shops, restaurants and bars are closed and Italians are only allowed to travel for work, health and emergency reasons.

« Our experts were seriously concerned that there would be a jump in cases over Christmas. . . So we had to act, « he said at a press conference.

Chilean President Sebastian Pinera was fined 3. Occupied $ 500 after posing for a selfie with a bystander on the beach without wearing a mask, as was required during the coronavirus pandemic.

Chile has strict rules for wearing masks in all public places and violations are punished with sanctions that include fines and even imprisonment.

Pinera apologized and checked in shortly after the selfie hit social media in early December.

The president said he was walking alone on the beach near his home in the posh Chilean coastal town of Cachagua when a woman recognized him and asked for a photo together.

The Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine was approved for use in Switzerland after a two-month ongoing review, the Swissmedic regulatory authority announced on Saturday.

« After a careful review of the available information, Swissmedic came to the conclusion that the Covid-19 vaccine from Pfizer / BioNTech is safe and that its benefits outweigh the risks, » the panel said in a statement.

It is the first vaccine against the new coronavirus approved for use in the affluent Alpine nation.

« Patient safety is an essential prerequisite, especially when it comes to the approval of vaccines », said Raimund Bruhin, Director of Swissmedic.

« Thanks to the ongoing process and our flexibly organized teams, we were nevertheless able to make a decision quickly – and at the same time fully meet the three most important requirements for safety, effectiveness and quality. « 

Switzerland, population 8. 6 million, has secured around 15. 8 million Covid-19 vaccine doses under contract with three manufacturers.

It has signed contracts for around three million doses of the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine, around 7. 5 million doses of Moderna’s vaccine and about 5. 3 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine.

In an intensive care unit that treated Covid-19 patients in southern Turkey, a fire broke out on Saturday after an oxygen cylinder exploded and killed eight people, state media reported.

The Anadolu News Agency said the fire took place in the privately owned department of Sanko University Hospital in Gaziantep. A hospital statement was cited in which the victims were identified as being between 56 and 85 years old. The fire was quickly brought under control.

The statement said 14 patients undergoing intensive care were transferred to other hospitals. An investigation was underway.

The provincial governor’s office later said 19 patients were in the unit when a « high pressure oxygen device » exploded at 4:45 am. m. . Apart from the fatalities, no others were injured in the fire, it’s sad.

Intensive care units across Turkey currently have a bed occupancy rate of 74% due to the coronavirus outbreak, according to government data, although medical associations say the number is higher and their hospitals are overcrowded with Covid-19 patients.

PPE en route to the UK were at risk of being stolen as they traveled across Asia at the height of the pandemic. The ministers have been warned.

Suppliers told this newspaper that they had warned government officials that critical equipment could be skimmed off and sold to other countries and companies if used on indirect flights over the Middle East, Thailand and Vietnam.

Officials then advised suppliers to only use British Airways or Virgin Atlantic flights from China for fear of piracy, as they instead flew direct to the UK.

The chairman of the Royal College of GPs, Professor Martin Marshall, said he will accelerate the roll-out of the coronavirus vaccination program in nursing homes if the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine is approved by regulators.

« Right now we are dealing with this Pfizer vaccine, which is difficult, » he told BBC Radio 4 Today.

« Assuming we get approval for the AstraZeneca vaccine, which is much more familiar because it is much more similar to the flu shot, I think we will be able to roll out much faster, but certainly expect we in the next few weeks and months that all nursing homes are covered. « 

Former Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt said the government is facing a « very difficult, balanced judgment » on whether to strengthen coronavirus rules.

Mr Hunt, who now chairs the Commons Health and Social Care Committee, said if ministers did not want to change the law, they should consider strengthening social distancing guidelines.

« It’s a very difficult, balanced judgment. The biggest concern is what happens at indoor family gatherings and the risks increase there, « he told BBC Radio 4.

« You have to react to what is happening on the ground. I think they can be clearer about what is advisable and what is not because it would be an enormous tragedy if we had a spike in deaths in late January / February for taking our foot off the pedal so close to the vaccine. « 

Mr Hunt said it was « razor sharp » whether a third national lockdown was needed after Christmas.

« Given the numbers, it’s difficult to judge at the moment, as infection rates are increasing in the northeast and northwest, but are still much lower than before, and the second strain of the virus is not. « It doesn’t seem to have spread as widely in the north as it has in the south. At the moment I would say it’s razor sharp. « 

Anada’s health regulator said she expected to complete its review of the Moderna mRNA coronavirus vaccine in the coming weeks, according to Reuters.

« There is still information and data to be provided by Moderna for review, » the regulator said in a statement released after the US Food and Drug Administration approved emergency use on Friday.

Health Canada announced that there cannot be an exact timeline for vaccine approval, but expects the process to be completed in the coming weeks.

Canada also announced an agreement on Tuesday to deliver the Moderna vaccine ahead of schedule as numerous new cases emerge, forcing new health restrictions nationwide.

Last week, the Canadian Department of Health approved the vaccine from Pfizer Inc. approved, which was developed with the German BioNTech SE.

Professor Stephen Reicher, a social psychologist from the University of St. Andrews told Times Radio: « Christmas is a gift to the virus. If you want the perfect conditions for viruses to spread, you should be indoors, in a place that is not well ventilated, in a place where there is alcohol, so that we can forget our inhibitions and describe Christmas dinner perfectly. « 

Prof. Reicher, a member of the Scientific Pandemic Insights Group on Behaviors (SPI-B), which advises the Scientific Advisory Group on Emergencies (Sage), added, « Obviously we don’t want to give gifts to this virus. We want to take care of ourselves, and I think Unfortunately, the best way to do this is to postpone it if we can.

« I realize that it makes sense for some families to meet. I mean, if you have an elderly relative who may not see another Christmas, or if someone is suffering badly, there will be exceptions.

« But if we make the exception the rule, and if a lot of people meet, then we really are facing disaster. « 

He argued that the people who met during the five days of relaxed measures over Christmas were « too long » and that mixing households from different regions of the country « could restart the pandemic ». .

Thailand has nine new local coronavirus infections, the largest one-day increase in local transmissions in more than seven months, health officials said on Saturday.

The nine cases are related to a shrimp market in Samut Sakhon province near Bangkok, where four infections were reported on Friday.

The cases began with a 67-year-old woman selling shrimp in the market and confirmed to be infected before three of her family members also tested positive.

Taweesin Wisanuyothin, a spokesman for the Thai Covid-19 Task Force, said a lockdown was not yet needed, but steps would be taken if cases continued to increase.

« If tomorrow or the day after the number of cases does not go down and becomes a cluster of unfounded origins, we will choose measures from mild to strong to deal with, » he said.

Local cases have largely been found in people who observe quarantine after being in close contact with an infected person. Most of the recent cases in Thailand have been imported.

An author of a withdrawn World Health Organization report on the Italian coronavirus response warned bosses in May that people could die and the UN agency could suffer « catastrophic » reputational damage if political concerns suppressed the document, according to emails from The Associated Press.

The comprehensive report examined how the Italian government and health system reacted after the country became the epicenter of the European outbreak in late February – with real-time data and case studies of what was working and what was not targeting other countries help prepare while the virus spreads.

The agency shut it down the day after it was posted on their website and asked the officer who coordinated the work to come and see it on Jan.. May to address WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus directly and warn that the disappearance of the report undermines WHO’s credibility. He warned that further attempts at censorship would jeopardize the agency’s independence and its relationships with the donor countries that funded the research.

Concern about the missing report has grown in recent weeks, fueling criticism of WHO leadership over the global response to the pandemic, which led the agency to agree to an independent investigation into its performance.

In Manila, some moviegoers in the Philippine capital are fed up with the protracted Covid restrictions, which is why they opt for a foretaste of Venice – in socially distant gondolas in front of the big screen.

Gondoliers in striped uniforms steer and position each boat in an outside canal to watch full-length films. This is a rare opportunity to go to the movies after a nine month lockdown.

« Driving a boat made it a unique experience, » patron Violet Gatchalian told Reuters at the Venice Grand Canal-themed mall in Manila.

With more than 456. 000 infections and 8. With 875 deaths, the Philippines are the hardest hit country in Southeast Asia after Indonesia.

The government started the gradual reopening of the economy in June, but most non-essential businesses remain closed – in Manila, the gondola cinema and drive-through theater are the only movie locations.

Gondola cinema-goers sit in pairs on a boat, with up to 10 guests per show, and the boats are meters apart. Entry is 500 pesos (£ 7. 40), roughly the minimum daily wage in the capital.

Guests bring their own headphones and listen to audio broadcasts at a radio frequency that is only available on board the gondolas.

Around a quarter of a million people in Sydney’s northern beach suburbs were sentenced to a strict lockdown Saturday through Wednesday midnight to contain a coronavirus cluster that authorities fear could spread to the city.

Authorities will announce on Sunday whether further restrictions will be placed on the rest of Sydney, Australia’s most populous city.

The outbreak is now 39, with two more cases still under investigation. The authorities do not know the origin, which according to genome tests is a US virus strain.

As of this week, Australia had had no local broadcast for more than two weeks and had lifted most restrictions before Christmas. The Sydney outbreak caused states and territories to reintroduce border restrictions, throwing vacation travel plans into chaos for thousands.

The Sydney lockdown means people in the designated area will only be allowed to leave the home for one of four main reasons: grocery shopping, work, compassionate reasons including emergency medical treatment, or visiting an isolated relative.

People at higher risk of complications from Covid-19 should avoid going to the Christmas service in person and watching them online instead, the Archbishop of Canterbury said.

Since the 2nd. December, places of worship may be opened on all levels. Between the 23. and 27. December believers can attend church services with members of their Christmas bubble.

Worship services, including Christingle and midnight masses, can be held as long as social distancing requirements are met.

Speaking to the Times, the venerable Justin Welby was asked about Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s request that people « think » about Christmas, what they should do.

« Or go online. If you are vulnerable when you are at higher risk, it has to be online. « 

Thousands of shipping containers with excess personal protective equipment were taken from ports to train stations after the closure.

Photos posted on social media showed that thousands of PPE containers had been deposited next to the Melton rural train station in Suffolk.

Additional images from ITV news show that the several thousand shipping containers of masks, gloves and aprons were being transported from Felixstowe to Tilbury Port, raising concerns that the government had overordered and overpaid for medical equipment.

READ MORE: Â Thousands of shipping containers with excess PPE were brought to the train station after ports were closed

According to health officials, Hong Kong authorities are looking for a Covid-19 patient who fled one of the city’s largest hospitals while on treatment.

The 63-year-old male identified as patient 7379 was born on Jan.. Admitted to the isolation ward at Queen Elizabeth Hospital on December 23 after it was confirmed that he had coronavirus.

South Korea’s Covid-19 surge continued on Saturday and the shortage of hospital beds was a cause for concern in a country where deaths have been kept low despite a third wave of the disease.

The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) reported Jan.. 053 infections, a record day of more than 1. 000 cases in a row.

South Korea recorded 659 deaths out of 48. 570 infections. This is a comparatively low death rate due to aggressive tracking and testing during much of the year. This minimized the burden on the hospitals and allowed them to concentrate on seriously ill patients.

The mitigation efforts made the country a global success story as many nations experienced soaring infections that resulted in sweeping lockdowns.

But the recent surge – which is due to widespread clusters rather than the large, isolated outbursts of the first two waves – has resulted in severe hospital bed shortages.

RELATED NEWS: « Our backs are leaning against the wall »: South Korea is considering lockdown amid brutal third wave of Covid-19

In the greater Seoul area, an area with almost 26 million inhabitants, only four intensive care beds were available as of Friday.

Six people with Covid have died waiting for beds in South Korea this month and hundreds cannot be admitted as infections overwhelm the health system, officials and the media said on Friday.

The number of seriously ill patients reached 275 on Saturday compared to 97 on May 1. December.

Despite the surge, the government has failed to raise social distancing restrictions to the highest level, which would mean ordering 1. 2 million companies to cease operations.

Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun said Friday that, given the stress on businesses, a « social consensus » was required for such a move.

China will aim to vaccinate all « key groups » – including workers in the cold chain industry, customs, healthcare, markets and public transport – during winter and spring, a senior health official said on Saturday Briefing with.

The country will use the vaccination program to create a « group protection » that gives the public active immunity, said Zeng Yixin, vice minister of China’s National Health Commission and director of the vaccine research and development working group.

Moderna’s coronavirus vaccine was the second to receive emergency use approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Friday. This is welcome news for a nation staggering over 307. 000 fatalities after Covid-19.

The biotech company worked with the US government to prepare for the distribution of 5. 9 million recordings this weekend.

The FDA’s decision is based on results from a late-stage study at age 30. 000 volunteers who found the vaccine to be nearly 95 percent effective against Covid-19 with no serious safety concerns.

« Getting Moderna’s vaccine approved means we can accelerate the vaccination of frontline health workers and Americans in long-term care facilities and ultimately end this pandemic faster, » said US Health and Welfare Secretary Alex Azar.

We strongly recommend that you disable your ad blocker for The Telegraph website so that you can continue to access our high quality content in the future.

Mutation, Coronavirus, Boris Johnson, Lockdown, Report