Health News at Your Fingertips

Mexico reported 242 new confirmed deaths from Covid-19 on Friday, Reuters reports.

It brings the country’s official death toll from the pandemic to 290,872, according to health ministry data.

One in three Americans aged 65 and above has received a Covid-19 booster jab, data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed on Friday.

The country had administered 437,352,000 doses of Covid-19 vaccines in the country as of Friday morning and distributed 551,000,705 doses.

Those figures are up from the 434,486,889 vaccine doses the CDC said had gone into arms by Nov. 10 out of the 541,361,525 doses delivered.

The agency said 225,606,197 people had received at least one dose while 194,747,839 people had been fully vaccinated as of 6:00 a.m. ET on Friday, Reuters reports.

Brazil’s Supreme Court has suspended a government order that prevented companies from requiring employees to provide proof that they have been vaccinate against Covid-19 and stopped dismissals of those not immunised, Reuters reports.

Brazil’s far-right President Jair Bolsonaro, a vaccine skeptic, has criticised vaccine passports required in other countries.

Justice Luis Roberto Barroso said the pandemic had killed 610,000 Brazilians and it was reasonable to surmise that the presence of unvaccinated employees poses a threat to the health of the others.

“The lack of vaccination interferes with the rights of others,” he wrote in his judgment, issuing an injunction sought by four opposition parties.

Brazil had 14,598 new cases of coronavirus reported in the past 24 hours and 267 deaths, the country’s health ministry said.
The South American country has now registered 21,939,196 cases since the pandemic began, while the official death toll has risen to 610,491, according to ministry data, Reuters reports.

The Russian government has published a draft proposal to require QR codes as proof of immunity to Covid-19 from air and railway travellers up to 1 June.

The government will decide later on the date when the rule would be implemented, transport minister Vitaly Savelyev said at a briefing broadcasted on Friday, Reuters reports.

“Specific medical documentation… will have to be presented during the purchase of tickets and at the boarding whether it is a plane or a railway carriage,” Savelyev said.

The proposed laws, which have yet to be approved by the parliament, suggest that, starting from 1 February, QR codes may be also needed to enter public places, including restaurants, but this set of restrictions may differ from region to region depending on the local infection rate.

The UK government does not expect the pandemic to be over for at least another year and in a worst case scenario lockdowns could be needed until 2026, according to the i newspaper.

It said officials are working to three scenarios of how the pandemic might play out – optimistic, middle and pessimistic.

In response, a government spokesperson said: “As a responsible government, we prepare for all eventualities, regularly reviewing risk and contingency planning in light of the current situation and developments, and prioritising operations accordingly.

“This is necessary to identify and prepare for any potential risks which could emerge in the future”.

Austria’s government said it wanted a nationwide lockdown for those not vaccinated against or recovered from the coronavirus while Vienna authorities said they would start vaccinating children as young as five, AFP reports.

Only around 65 percent of the population is fully vaccinated in Austria, a rate described by chancellor Alexander Schallenberg as “shamefully low”.

Salzburg and Upper Austria states, which have seen some of the worst case rates, are already introducing a lockdown for the unvaccinated from Monday.

This means they will not be able to leave the house except for reasons such as buying essential supplies, exercise or seeking medical care.

“The aim is clear: we want on Sunday to give the green light for a nationwide lockdown for the unvaccinated,” Schallenberg told a press conference.

He said lockdowns across the country would be enforced with “random” spot checks.

A group of around 100 anti-lockdown protesters in The Netherlands gathered outside the government building in The Hague.

Several people were detained for setting off fireworks and throwing objects at the police, Reuters reports.

It comes after the government announced it will return to a partial lockdown from Saturday after the government ordered restaurants and shops to close early and barred spectators from major sporting events.

Supermarkets and non-essential retailers will also close earlier and social distancing measures will be re-imposed.

The government recommended that no more than four visitors be received at home, effective immediately.

Queensland in Australia may have passed its 80% first-dose milestone, bringing a string of freedoms for the vaccinated there, but those stuck across the border still face a lengthy road back home this Christmas.

The only way in is by air until the next vaccination targets are due to be met on 17 December, leaving thousands of residents stuck interstate with their cars. Even then, a question mark remains over how border checks will be implemented once Queensland reopens to interstate travellers.

If you are planning a trip to Queensland, it would pay to read the fine print. Here’s what you need to know.

More than 27 million Americans have had a Covid-19 booster shot, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said, Reuters reports.

Psaki added: “In the past week, we’re averaging nearly 300,000 first shots per day for people aged 12 and over”, up from less than 250,000 first jabs per day in mid-July, before president Biden first discussed vaccine requirements.

Here is a recap of some of the main developments from today:

• The Netherlands will return to partial lockdown amid surging Covid cases – the first lockdown in western Europe this winter. Taking effect from Saturday evening for three weeks, restaurants and non-essential shops will close early and spectators will be barred from major sporting events, as the country tackles record infections and intensive care admissions. Social distancing will be reintroduced, as many people as possible should work from home, and no more than four visitors over the age of 13 will be permitted in people’s homes, the prime minister, Mark Rutte, announced.
• Elderly and vulnerable people must get their booster jabs if a rise in Covid cases in the UK is to be prevented, the British prime minister said, as he warned of “storm clouds” forming over parts of Europe where infections are surging. Speaking in a broadcast clip, Boris Johnson said the situation was of concern. “I’m seeing the storm clouds gathering over parts of the European continent. And I’ve got to be absolutely frank with people: we’ve been here before. We remember what happens when the wave starts rolling in,” he said. Story here.
• AstraZeneca has started signing commercial contracts to supply its Covid-19 vaccine next year as the pandemic moves to an “endemic phase” – in a major shift away from the drugmaker’s not-for-profit pricing. Britain’s biggest pharma firm expects the vaccine to move to “modest profitability” as new orders are received. But the chief executive, Pascal Soriot, insisted that it was offering affordable and tiered pricing, depending on countries’ ability to pay. He said the vaccine, developed with Oxford University, would not become “a huge profit earner”. Story here.
• Latvia’s parliament voted to ban lawmakers who refuse to get a Covid vaccine from voting on legislature and participating in discussions and to dock their pay. Latvia has one of the lowest vaccination rates in the EU. The restrictions on vaccine-rejecting MPs was supported by 62 of its 100 lawmakers, and will last from Monday until mid-2022.
• Germany’s health minister, Jens Spahn, said the country faces a “bitter December” if immediate measures are not taken to try to control the spread of coronavirus. Against a backdrop of record infection rates, Spahn announced a return to free testing from Saturday and plans to introduce a so-called 2G-plus rule, according to which people would have to be vaccinated or recovered in addition to producing a negative test in order to attend cultural, sporting and other gatherings. The German government also declared Austria, the Czech Republic and Hungary as high-risk areas and advised Germans to avoid travelling there.
• The head of Germany’s Robert Koch Institute advised Germans to avoid large gatherings amid the record surge in coronavirus infections, saying: “It’s five minutes past midnight.” Germany’s weekly infection rate has soared to an all-time high of 263.7 per 100,000 people, and intensive care beds are filling up rapidly. With Christmas market season approaching, Wieler said large gatherings “must be viewed very critically” and in some situations “clearly should be cancelled”. Prof Lothar Wieler added that he would be skipping next month’s New Year’s parties, “but I urge people not to wait until then to think about their actions”.
• Austria’s government is likely to decide on Sunday to impose a lockdown on people who have not been vaccinated against coronavirus as daily infections have surged to record levels, the chancellor, Alexander Schallenberg, said. He did not say when the lockdown would take effect, but the two provinces hardest hit by this wave of infections, Upper Austria and Salzburg, have already said they will introduce the measure for themselves on Monday. Story here.
• Norway will offer a third Covid vaccine dose to everyone aged 18 or older and will give municipalities the option of using digital “corona passes” as a way to beat back an ongoing surge in infections, the government said. The country is not going back into lockdown, but new measures include a requirement for adults who have been in contact with a positive case to be tested, and unvaccinated health workers will have to be tested twice a week and wear masks.
• Mauritius imposed a series of Covid-19 curbs today as it confronts a surge in cases despite a high vaccination rate. A month after reopening its borders to international visitors, schools were closed this week, with all classes to be held online, while bars and discos have been ordered to shut and concerts and sporting competitions banned. The government is also limiting numbers of people attending gatherings such as weddings, funerals and rallies, but said beaches would be open, although picnics are prohibited.

The Dutch prime minister, Mark Rutte, has announced western Europe’s first partial Covid lockdown of this winter, with three weeks of restrictions for shops, sport and catering.

Ruttee said the move was in response to record infections and rising intensive care cases.

Much of the continent is facing a surge in cases, in part to be blamed on low vaccine take-up and vaccine hesitancy in several countries.

Rutte said that fortunately the vast majority of people in the Netherlands had been vaccinated. But the three-week partial lockdown will start on Saturday evening.

Non-essential shops will have to close at 6pm; cafes, restaurants and hotels at 8pm. Professional sport will continue but behind closed doors, including the Netherlands’ football World Cup qualifier against Norway on 16 November, and cinemas and theatres will stay open.

Social distancing of 1.5 metres will be reintroduced, and a maximum of four guests over the age of 13 will be allowed at people’s homes. As many people should work from home as possible.

World Health Organization (WHO) officials said on Friday they were hoping to convene a meeting soon to set guidelines on the use of Covid antiviral pills, saying they offered “very attractive” new prospects for clinical care.

The UK became the first country to approve one of the potentially game-changing pills earlier this month.

Janet Diaz, the WHO’s top official for clinical care responses, said that a meeting of its guidelines development group would consider the question of coronavirus pills in a forthcoming meeting in three weeks.

Another WHO official Mike Ryan said preliminary findings on the pills was “very, very welcome”, adding that a “careful process” was required before the therapies should be expanded more broadly.

“Clearly, having a second-line approach of being able to treat those who do get infected is very attractive and being able to save lives in that manner is very attractive,” he said.

Last week Pfizer said its experimental antiviral pill to treat Covid cut by 89% the chance of hospitalisation or death for adults at risk of severe disease.

At the same briefing, the WHO principal legal officer, Steven Solomon, said that talks on an international treaty to boost pandemic preparedness were advancing before a major meeting of the body later this month.

“There is good reason to believe they [WHO members] will come to a successful conclusion,” he said.

Discussions are also advancing on a potential emergency use listing for Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine, the WHO’s Mariangela Simao said, adding that further inspections were required. “The process is moving again, which is very good news,” she said.