US president Joe Biden has admitted that more should have been done in terms of Covid-19 testing availability earlier in the pandemic.
“Look, we’re also increasing testing. Should we have done more testing earlier? Yes. But we’re doing more now,” he said during a news conference on Wednesday.
Look, we’re also increasing testing. Should we have done more testing earlier? Yes. But we’re doing more now.
We’ve gone from zero at-home tests a year ago to 375 million tests on the market in just this month.”
The president reiterated the White House’s plans to mail at-home tests to Americans who request them and the move to have insurers reimburse Americans for at-home tests they buy in stores.
People wait in line at a walk-up vaccination site in Washington, DC as US president Joe Biden admits more Covid testing could have been done. Photograph: Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images
I know there’s a lot of frustration and fatigue in this country. And we know why, Covid-19. Omicron has now been challenging us in a way that it’s the new enemy.
But while it’s caused for concern, it’s not cause for panic. We’ve been doing everything we can, learning and adapting as fast as we can and preparing for future beyond the pandemic.
Biden also said the country is now better positioned to tackle the pandemic, citing vaccination efforts, testing tools and new medications now available.
We’re in a very different place now, though. We have the tools. Vaccines. boosters, masks, tests, pills to save lives and keep businesses and schools open. 75% of adults are fully vaccinated. We’ve gone from 90 million adults with no shots in arms last summer and down to 35 million with no shots as of today. And we’re adding about 9 million more vaccinations each week.”
South African-American biotech businessman Patrick Soon-Shiong opened a new vaccine plant in Cape Town on Wednesday, intended to help his local NantSA company make Covid-19 shots and address the continent’s deadly dearth of manufacturing capacity, Reuters reports.
it will be the first in Africa to produce Covid-19 vaccines from start to finish, according to Agence France-Presse.
The factory should produce its first vials of second-generation coronavirus vaccine “within the year” and produce a billion doses annually by 2025, Soon-Shiong said.
South African president Cyril Ramaphosa, who attended the opening, supported the move, tweeting:
This state-of-the-art vaccine manufacturing campus that we are officially launching today is part of a far broader initiative to propel Africa into a new era of health science.
Today we are marking the establishment of a company that aims to develop next-generation vaccines that will reach patients across the continent.
Africa should no longer be last in line to access vaccines against pandemics. Africa should no longer go cap in hand to the Western world, begging and begging for vaccines.
Soon-Shiong, who is also a medical doctor, will transfer technology and materials from his California-based NantWorks to scientists in South Africa, where they will also work on vaccines targeting cancer, TB and HIV.
Cyril Ramaphosa (@CyrilRamaphosa)
We welcome partnerships with entities like the Access to Advanced Health Institute, the Chan Soon-Shiong Family Foundation and NantWorks to mobilise investment, transfer technology and know-how, and develop skills. We are already seeing the benefits of this partnership. pic.twitter.com/VLKFlNLi1V
“Greater self-sufficiency is essential,” Matshidiso Moeti, World Health Organization (WHO) regional director for Africa, said in a message of support for the plant.
Soon-Shiong said he would transfer bioreactors stockpiled at his U.S. factories, with first production of vaccines seen later this year. To ensure a pipeline of skilled workers, he has pledged 100 million rand ($6.5 million) for scholarships.
“We have now the capability to use the human capital of South Africans to build 21st century medicine,” Soon-Shiong told Ramaphosa, as he entered one of two warehouses, currently empty, in the semi-industrial area of Brackenfell near Cape Town.
Australia’s health body, the Therapeutic Goods Association, has given provisional approval to the protein-based Novavax Covid-19 vaccine.
The more traditional vaccine technology is preferred by many vaccine-hesitant groups across the country.
Health minister Greg Hunt said:
We have 51m units available, and obviously we have a first dose national vaccination rate of 95.2%, [but] we know that some people have waited for this vaccine. Although we have encouraged everyone to proceed … we recognise that as a fact.
Hopefully, this will encourage those people in the less than last 5% to come forward. We want to have as many people come forward to be vaccinated, the next stage is the Australian advisory group on immunisation and subject to their approval it will be made available over the coming weeks to be distributed through states and territories, general practices and pharmacies that seek to order it.
New Zealand’s prime minister Jacinda Ardern has said restrictions will be tightened if there is a community transmission of Omicron.
Ardern made the remarks during a press conference on Thursday in which she provided an update on the country’s traffic light system.
New Zealand will move to into the red zone as part of the traffic light system within 24 to 48 hours in the event of a community outbreak of Omicron but lockdowns will not be used, stuff.co.nz reports.
Ardern said in a statement accompanying the announcement:
We’re also confirming today that when we have evidence of Omicron transmitting in the community we won’t use lockdowns, instead the whole country will move into Red within 24 to 48 hours.”
The prime minister previously told her MPs that Omicron is a “different foe” and will result in case numbers not seen in New Zealand before. However, she added that the variant “is not insurmountable” and long lockdowns should not be needed.
Two new Omicron cases have been reported in Auckland.
Testing in New Zealand for Covid will be free, and rapid antigen tests will be used more widely, Ardern added.
The World Health Organization has recommended lifting or easing international traffic bans, citing the ineffectiveness of the measures to suppress the spread of the Omicron variant.
The UN health agency recently updated its international health regulations recommendations during an emergency committee meeting on Wednesday.
Recommendations included to “lift or ease international traffic bans as they do not provide added value and continue to contribute to the economic and social stress” of some countries.
Passengers walk at the international arrivals area in Heathrow Airport in London, Britain. Photograph: Xinhua/REX/Shutterstock
Implementing blanket travel bans are “not effective in suppressing international spread” and “may discourage transparent and rapid reporting of emerging variants of concerns” the agency said in a statement.
The failure of travel restrictions introduced after the detection and reporting of Omicron variant to limit international spread of Omicron demonstrates the ineffectiveness of such measures over time.
Travel measures such as masking, testing, isolation/quarantine and vaccination should be based on risk assessments and avoid placing the financial burden on international travellers, according to their recommendations.
The WHO also said the requirement to provide proof of vaccination against Covid-19 for international travel may not be needed as “the only pathway or condition” permitting international travel.
Do not require proof of vaccination against Covid-19 for international travel as the only pathway or condition permitting international travel given limited global access and inequitable distribution of Covid-19 vaccines.
State parties should consider a risk-based approach to the facilitation of international travel by lifting or modifying measures, such as testing and/or quarantine requirements, when appropriate, in accordance with the WHO guidance.”
Hello it’s Samantha Lock back with you on the blog as we unpack all the latest Covid developments from across the world.
I’ll be reporting to you from Sydney and my colleagues from London will take over a little later in the day.
Let’s dive in with a cautiously optimistic advice from the World Health Organization to lift or ease international travel bans.
The UN health agency recently updated its international health regulations recommendations during an emergency committee meeting on Wednesday.
Recommendations included to “lift or ease international traffic bans as they do not provide added value and continue to contribute to the economic and social stress” of some countries.
Implementing blanket travel bans are “not effective in suppressing international spread” and “may discourage transparent and rapid reporting of emerging variants of concerns” the agency said in a statement.
The WHO also said the requirement to provide proof of vaccination against Covid-19 for international travel may not be needed as “the only pathway or condition” permitting international travel.
Here’s a round-up of all the top international Covid news.
Denmark reported a record 38,759 infections, a 37% jump on two weeks ago.
Austria recorded a record daily rise in Covid infections with 27,641 cases reported in the past 24 hours, according to data from the Austrian Agency for Health (AGES).
Algeria announced it’s closing schools for ten days over rising cases.
Germany reported a record 112,323 cases as Omicron continues to batter Europe.
Bulgaria reported its highest Covid tally of the whole pandemic, with 11,181 new infections, a 65% jump on the 6,766 cases recorded on Wednesday two weeks ago.
France detected over 400,000 new cases for the second day in a row.
Northern Ireland will cut self-isolation from seven to five days from Friday, following suit from new isolation rules in England.
St Petersburg in Russia detected record cases, as the country clocked over 33,000 infections.
Hana Horka, a Czech folk singer, died on Sunday after deliberately exposing herself to Covid. Her son said she was a victim of the antivax movement.
Authorities in Beijing, China announced another piece of infected international mail, local media reported, amid doubts from experts that such events are extremely rare.
Portuguese voters with Covid or isolating will be allowed to vote in person on 30 January.
Asia:
Japan is is set to widen Covid restrictions to cover half its population as the Omicron variant drives record infections.
Children aged 5-11 in Malaysia will be jabbed starting February with the Pfizer vaccine.
Americas:
The US government will make 400m non-surgical N95 masks free to the public from next week, the White House said.
In the US,Starbucks has suspended the requirement for its 220,000 employees to be vaccinated or regularly tested after a Supreme Court ruling.
US actor John Malkovich was turned away from a luxury hotel in Venice, Italy last week after failing to present a Covid vaccination pass.
Brazil has reported 204,854 new confirmed cases of coronavirus in the past 24 hours, breaking the country’s previous record for the second day in a row, the health ministry said on Wednesday.
Australia and New Zealand:
Australia’s health body the Therapeutic Goods Administration has granted provisional approval to two oral Covid-19 treatments, Paxlovid (nirmatrelvir + ritonavir) and Lagevrio (molnupiravir).
The TGA also gave provisional approval to the protein-based Novavax Covid-19 vaccine.
The interval for a booster shot will be reduced to three months in Victoria, New South Wales, South Australia and the ACT amid unprecedented strain on hospitals as Omicron cases surge.
New Zealand’s prime minister Jacinda Ardern has said restrictions will be tightened if there is a community transmission of Omicron.
(@CyrilRamaphosa)
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