Health News at Your Fingertips

And that’s all from Australia’s acting chief medical officer.

Kidd is asked whether the European decisions could impact Australia’s import dates – particularly given the involvement of European Union leaders in those decisions.

Minister Hunt is keeping in contact with the country leads of both Pfizer and AstraZeneca on a day-to-day basis to ensure that we continue to have certainty about the offshore production, but also the shipping of the two vaccines to Australia.

We have good news in that from March we will have the onshore production of the AstraZeneca vaccine beginning to roll out vaccines for the Australian population, subject to approval by the TGA.

Obviously Australia is reaching out to colleagues right across the world to ensure that we do have continuity of supply as these vaccines start coming towards Australia.

Kidd has given a very long response to the decision overnight from the European Union to impose export restrictions on vaccine manufacturers. He insists though that Australia remains on track to receive its allotted shipments.

Kidd says Australia’s health minister, Greg Hunt, has “reconfirmed” that “Australia’s current vaccine schedule is on track” and had spoken to the heads of both AstraZeneca and Pfizer.

As set out earlier this week, the government remains on track for a late February commencement of the Pfizer vaccine rollout, commencing with the availability of approximately 80,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine per week.

In addition, the rollout of the AstraZeneca international doses is on track for an early March rollout subject to TGA approval and final shipping confirmation … the latest guidance of AstraZeneca is for supply of approximately 1.2m doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine from offshore during March. And they remain committed to the full supply of 3.8m offshore doses and we will reconfirm shipping dates once global surveys are confirmed.

It is projected that 2m domestically produced doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine will be supplied in late March. These projections already take into account the global supply challenges for both Pfizer and AstraZeneca, and at the European regulatory proposals. All deliveries are subject to global production and shipping processes. The projections which we have are cautious and conservative. Our guidance remains for a late vaccine commencement, a late February commencement, with rollout to priority populations in accordance with the national vaccination strategy, and with all Australians who seek to be vaccinated having received their vaccines by the end of October.

Kidd says Australian health officials will be meeting with colleagues in New Zealand tomorrow before providing a recommendation to the government on whether to extend the current 72-hour pause of no-quarantine flights from NZ.

The current pause expires at 2pm tomorrow.

Australia’s acting chief medical officer, Prof Michael Kidd, is speaking in Canberra.

He says Australia has today marked “the longest stretch of no cases of Covid-19 in our country since March last year”.

The Mexican president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, posted a video of himself walking slowly through his offices on Friday and talking for about 13 minutes straight, saying he is recovering from Covid-19.

López Obrador has not been holding his famous hours-long daily press conferences for the first time since he took office on 1 December 2018, and he evidently misses the opportunity to talk.

The president, who has been in isolation since testing positive for the coronavirus over the weekend, said: “The doctors tell me I am getting through the critical stage. I am doing well.”

He has been receiving treatment at his apartment in the colonial-era National Palace, where he also has offices.

López Obrador said that Mexico will import the AstraZeneca vaccine from India and said that the government expects China’s CanSino vaccine to submit test results soon.

Virus fragments have been found in wastewater at three more towns in Victoria, including the popular holiday destinations of Cowes and Castlemaine.

AAP has the story:

The fragments were found at Castlemaine, Cowes and Pakenham on 27 January.

The department of health is urging residents and anyone who has visited these areas from 25 to 27 January to get tested if they have symptoms of the virus.

It says the virus detections at each of the locations were weak, and could be due to people who have recovered from Covid-19 continuing to shed the virus.

Viral fragments were also recently detected in wastewater in Gisborne, Hamilton and Leongatha.

People who were in Gisborne from 24 to 26 January, in Hamilton from 25 to 27 January or in Leongatha from 17 to 19 January are also being urged to get tested.

We’re waiting on Australia’s chief medical officer, Paul Kelly, who is due to speak at 2.30pm.

Mexico’s health ministry on Friday reported 16,374 new confirmed cases of coronavirus infections and 1,434 additional fatalities, bringing the total in the country to 1,841,893 cases and 156,579 deaths.

The government says the real number of infected people is likely significantly higher than the confirmed cases.

It comes as the country plans to import about 870,000 doses of AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine from India in February, as well as producing it locally, the president, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, said on Friday.

Mexico and Argentina have a deal with AstraZeneca to produce its vaccine for distribution in Latin America, with financial support from the foundation of the Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim.

In a video broadcast on social media, Lopez Obrador stressed that some percentage of their vaccines will be made locally:

We are also getting AstraZeneca vaccines, apart from the agreement we have with them – these vaccines are being made here in Mexico – we will bring AstraZeneca from India.

Meanwhile, deliveries of Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine to Mexico would “very probably” resume on 10 February, Lopez Obrador said, after global delivery delays by the US company.

Mexico was expecting about 1.5m doses from Pfizer, he noted. Mexico is trying to secure as much vaccine supply as possible amid delivery delays and a surge in cases.

Lopez Obrador, speaking publicly for the first time since revealing on Sunday he had Covid-19, said Mexico would also receive 870,000 doses of Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine in February.

Still in Australia, the Australian Capital Territory has recorded another day of zero positive cases.

The ACT currently has no active cases, leaving its total at 118, and it recorded 267 tests in the past 24 hours.

The Australian Open has reported another day of zero positive cases, with the number of total primary close contacts remaining at 255.

As of 11pm yesterday, 383 of the AO cohort were still in quarantine, after 459 exited yesterday morning.

In total, there have been eight positive cases since the cohort arrived in Australia.

Victoria has recorded no new locally acquired cases, but recorded a new case in hotel quarantine.

A woman aged in her 20s tested positive overnight, and is a recently arrived international airline crew member, currently in quarantine.

This is the 24thconsecutive day where Victoria has recorded no new locally acquired cases of coronavirus.

Vietnam has approved the AstraZeneca vaccine.

Vietnam’s health ministry announced it had approved the AstraZeneca vaccine for domestic inoculation, the first coronavirus vaccine to be approved in the country, which is battling its biggest Covid outbreak yet.

The prime minister, Nguyen Xuan Phuc, has said Vietnam must try to obtain the vaccine in the first quarter to ensure people’s health.

Vietnam has kept its tally to a low 1,739 infections and 35 deaths.