Health News at Your Fingertips

Fewer than half of eligible residents in older age care homes in England have received a coronavirus booster jab, latest available NHS data suggests.

Out of around 250,000 eligible residents in care homes for adults aged 65 and over, around 112,000 had received a booster as of midnight on Thursday, NHS England said.

This works out at around 45% of eligible residents having been given their booster vaccine since the programme launched roughly a month ago.

Eligible residents are those who had their second Covid-19 vaccine more than six months ago and do not currently have coronavirus or norovirus.

Here is a round-up of today’s top Covid stories from the UK and around the world:

• Russia recorded a fourth straight daily record of Covid deaths this morning, with 1,064 more people reported to have died from the virus.
• The UK Health Security Agency today announced the offshoot of Delta, known as AY.4.2 has been designated a variant under investigation due to it becoming increasingly common in the UK.
• Pfizer has said that child-size doses of its Covid vaccine are safe and nearly 91% effective at preventing infections in primary school children.
• Amnesty International has urged the Italian parliament to launch an independent inquiry into coronavirus deaths in care homes and reports of retaliation against nursing staff who criticised unsafe conditions.
• In the US, Biden administration officials have urged eligible Americans to get booster shots and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention head said it may update its definition of what constitutes full vaccination.
• Norway will hold off giving children aged 12-15 a second dose of a vaccine against Covid until it has gathered more research, partly due to a rare side effect involving inflammation of the heart, health authorities said today.
• India seems unlikely to meet its goal of vaccinating 944 million adults by December.
• Canada has scrapped an official advisory urging its citizens to avoid non-essential foreign travel, dropping a warning that was issued in March 2020 when the Covid pandemic erupted.
• The percentage of people testing positive for Covid is estimated to have increased in all regions of England except south-east England and the West Midlands.
• In Belarus, authorities abolished mask mandates, less than two weeks after their introduction for the first time during the pandemic, on Friday.
• England’s Covid weekly reproduction “R” number was estimated to have risen to between 1.0 and 1.2, the UK Health Security Agency said on Friday, and the epidemic is estimated to be growing.
• Italy reported 39 coronavirus-related deaths on Friday compared to 36 the day before, the health ministry said, while the daily tally of new infections rose to 3,882 from 3,794.
• Malaysia will reopen to foreign workers and allow fully vaccinated tourists to visit the northern resort island of Langkawi next month without quarantine.
• Belgium’s daily Covid cases have jumped to the highest level in almost a year, prompting health experts to say that a fourth wave of infections has begun.
• In Iran, mass Friday prayers resumed in Tehran after a 20-month hiatus due to the Covid pandemic, state TV reported.
• Sri Lankan president Gotabaya Rajapaksa ordered frontline workers and tourism staff to be given a third booster shot of Covid vaccine by next month.
• Ukraine shut schools in coronavirus hotspots and announced a requirement for vaccine certificates or negative tests to use public transport in the capital, after Covid deaths hit a record high.
• Hong Kong authorities prevented a Royal Caribbean cruise ship from departing the city’s terminal late on Thursday as a crew member was suspected to have Covid-19 after routine testing.

That’s it from me, Tom Ambrose, for today. I will be back tomorrow morning but my colleague Nadeem Badshah will continue to bring you all the latest coronavirus news throughout the rest of this evening. Goodbye.

All Spanish citizens who paid fines during a nearly three-month state of emergency declared last year to slow the spread of the coronavirus will be remunerated, the country’s ministry of territorial affairs said on Friday.

The move follows a ruling by Spain’s top court earlier this year that declared as unconstitutional the country’s first state of emergency, which sent all but essential citizens to their homes and paralysed much of the economy between 14 March and 21 June.

As cases spiked again, central authorities declared another state of emergency from the end of October last year to May this year.

The interior ministry said that police had given out 1.1 million fines to citizens who defied the stay-at-home order and other restrictions, although not all of them had been immediately paid.

In Belarus, authorities abolished mask mandates, less than two weeks after their introduction for the first time during the pandemic, on Friday.

It comes a day after the country registered a record number of new coronavirus infections.

The decision came after Belarus’ authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko dismissed the measures as unnecessary during a meeting with officials earlier this week, the Associated Press reported.

“It’s just over the top to send police to track down those who aren’t wearing masks,” Lukashenko said. “We aren’t the West.”

The mask mandates were introduced on 9 October amid a new wave of Covid. People had been required to wear medical masks in all indoor public areas, including public transport and stores.

On Thursday, the country reported 2,097 new confirmed infections, the highest number so far.

In the US, Biden administration officials have urged eligible Americans to get booster shots and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention head said it may update its definition of what constitutes full vaccination.

Currently people in the United States are considered fully vaccinated if they have had two doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech or Moderna vaccine, or one dose of the vaccine made by Johnson & Johnson.

“We have not yet changed the definition of ‘fully vaccinated.’ We will continue to look at this. We may need to update our definition of ‘fully vaccinated’ in the future,” CDC director Rochelle Walensky told reporters.

“If you’re eligible for a booster, go ahead and get your booster and we will continue to follow,” she said.

Italy reported 39 coronavirus-related deaths on Friday compared to 36 the day before, the health ministry said, while the daily tally of new infections rose to 3,882 from 3,794.

Italy has registered 131,763 deaths linked to Covid since its outbreak emerged in February last year, the second-highest toll in Europe after Britain and the ninth-highest in the world. The country has reported 4.73 million cases to date.

Patients in hospital with Covid – not including those in intensive care – stood at 2,443 on Friday, edging up from 2,439 a day earlier.

There were 22 new admissions to intensive care units, the same number recorded on Thursday. The total number of intensive care patients decreased to 343 from a previous 356, Reuters reported.

Malaysia will reopen to foreign workers and allow fully vaccinated tourists to visit the northern resort island of Langkawi next month without quarantine.

Prime minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob said the government will use the reopening of Langkawi on 15 November, the first time foreign tourists will be allowed back since March 2020, as a gauge for three months before opening up the rest of the country.

It comes amid a sharp fall in coronavirus cases, and a beefed-up vaccination campaign with 94% of adults — or 72% of the population — getting their shots.

Daily infections have fallen to below 7,000 from a peak of more than 20,000 in August. Malaysia has recorded a total 2.41 million cases, with more than 28,000 deaths.

Ismail said only holidaymakers from some countries, a list of which will be released soon, will be allowed in initially. They will have to undergo Covid tests three days before departure and during their stay.

Ismail said the government has also agreed to let foreign workers return to the plantation sector on a case-by-case basis. He said the workers must be fully vaccinated, have a negative Covid test three days before arrival and undergo a seven-day quarantine.

Canada has scrapped an official advisory urging its citizens to avoid non-essential foreign travel, dropping a warning that was issued in March 2020 when the Covid pandemic erupted.

The Canadian government, however, is still telling people to avoid cruise ship travel outside of the country, Reuters reported.

In an update to its travel advisory page posted late on Thursday, Ottawa removed the advice to avoid unnecessary travel and reverted to its usual practice of issuing notices for individual countries.

“Community transmission of COVID-19 continues in many countries. You should be fully vaccinated by completing a COVID-19 vaccine series in Canada or abroad at least 14 days before traveling,” it said.

England’s Covid weekly reproduction “R” number was estimated to have risen to between 1.0 and 1.2, the UK Health Security Agency said on Friday, and the epidemic is estimated to be growing.

An R number between 1.0 and 1.2 means that for every 10 people infected, they will on average infect between 10 and 12 other people. Last week R was estimated between 0.9 and 1.1.

The daily growth of infections was estimated between +1% and +3%, up from -1% and +2% the previous week.

UKHSA said regional estimates of R and growth rate had been paused while it investigated the impact of incorrect negative PCR test results on estimates in the South West, South East and London following an issue in a lab, which was suspended last week.

Norway will hold off giving children aged 12-15 a second dose of a vaccine against Covid until it has gathered more research, partly due to a rare side effect involving inflammation of the heart, health authorities said today.

The Nordic country has so far only recommended using the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine to minors, Reuters reported.

The health ministry said there was no urgency given that children have a low risk of falling seriously ill from coronavirus and because a single dose of a vaccine offered a protection rate of 85% against the disease for up to 16 weeks.

“A second vaccine dose is also linked with a higher risk of pericarditis and myocarditis, especially among young men and boys,” the Norwegian Institute of Public Health (FHI) said in a statement.

Pericarditis is inflammation of the outer lining of the heart, while myocarditis is inflammation of the heart muscle. The FHI will assess the situation again in early 2022 after it has gathered more information from studies currently being conducted in the Nordics, it said.

Belgium’s daily Covid cases have jumped to the highest level in almost a year, prompting health experts to say that a fourth wave of infections has begun.

Data from the Sciensano health institute showed on Friday that the country registered nearly 6,500 new cases on 18 October. That is as many as on 10 November, 2020, a few days before the government imposed a second lockdown.

The seven-day daily average stood at more than 3,600, a rise of nearly 60% from the previous week, Reuters reported.

Belgium’s coronavirus commissioner Pedro Falcon told a news conference that vaccines were able to prevent 70% of infections and 90% of hospital admissions, and the vast majority of people in hospital were unvaccinated.

The number of patients with Covid in hospitals exceeded 1,000 for the first time since June, and nearly 100 new patients are being admitted a day, Sciensano said, a 53% increase from the previous week.

“The impact on hospital admissions and deaths is much more limited than in the first two waves due to the high vaccination rate,” said virologist and Sciensano spokesman Steven Van Gucht.

In the United States, people are able to choose a Covid booster shot that is different from their original inoculation, Dr Anthony Fauci said today.

However, the recommendation is to stick with the vaccine they got first if it is available,the White House chief medical adviser added. He said in an interview with CNN:

It’s generally recommended that you get the booster that is the original regimen that you got in the first place. But for one reason or other – and there may be different circumstances with people, availability or just different personal choices – you can, as we say, mix and match.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommended the Covid vaccine boosters for recipients of the Moderna and Johnson & Johnson jabs yesterday and said Americans can choose a different shot from their original inoculation as a booster.

Dr Fauci’s comments contrasted with the recommendations from the CDC and Food and Drug Administration this week, which said that Americans should get boosters but did not specify which combinations would be best, Reuters reported.

The recommendations also opened the door for recipients of the one-shot J&J vaccine to get a dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines that have been shown to afford greater protection in a variety of studies.

Sri Lankan president Gotabaya Rajapaksa ordered frontline workers and tourism staff to be given a third booster shot of Covid vaccine by next month.

It is part of a bid to reopen the travel industry and revive the economy, the Reuters news agency reported.

More than one million people, including security personnel, health care staff and tourism industry workers, will be given third shots of the Pfizer vaccine beginning 1 November, the president’s office said in a statement. Reuters reported:

Sri Lanka has fully vaccinated a little over 60% of its 22 million people. The country depends on international tourism, and partially rolled back Covid restrictions late last month, allowing fully vaccinated travellers with a negative test to enter without quarantine.

Earnings from tourism plummeted from $4.3 billion in 2018 to just $33 million in the first eight months of this year. Reviving the industry is seen as crucial to restoring reserves which stood at just $2.6 billion at the end of September.

Tourism minister Prasanna Ranatunga said there was strong interest from travellers from countries such as Russia, Britain, France and Germany, and that international flights will be increased from next month.

“The target is to have a strong winter season from November to March or April of next year,” he told Reuters.

Pfizer has said that child-size doses of its Covid vaccine are safe and nearly 91% effective at preventing infections in primary school children.

Details of the study were posted online today as US regulators considered vaccinations for children aged five to 11, the Associated Press reported.

The jabs could begin as early as next month – with the first children in line to be fully protected by Christmas – if regulators give approval.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is expected to post its initial review of the company’s safety and effectiveness data later on Friday. Next week, advisers to the FDA will publicly debate the evidence.

If the FDA then authorises the low-dose shots, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will make the final recommendations on who should receive them.

Full-strength Pfizer shots already are authorised for anyone 12 or older, but paediatricians and many parents are anxiously awaiting protection for younger children to stem rising infections from the extra-contagious Delta variant and help keep kids in school.