The chief advisor of the US Covid-19 vaccine development programme is confident that at least 100 million people would have got coronavirus shots by the end of February 2021 and this operation would have covered the entire “at risk” population comprising the elderly, frontline workers and those with comorbidities.
Operation Warp Speed chief adviser Moncef Slaoui said he hopes to have emergency use authorization for at least one vaccine by December 10 or 11.
Slaoui (far right) at a GSK event in December 2016 (Wikipedia)
Slaoui pointed to “exceptionally good data” from both the vaccines which have applied for emergency use authorization – Pfizer and Moderna.
He is hoping for a “breakthrough” from a Johnson and Johnson vaccine that has now recruited more than 28,000 subjects.
“Now the breakthrough that we hope with this vaccine is that it’s a one shot vaccine, with very fast efficacy achieved and 100 per cent compliance, so to speak, since everybody will get one shot and get the full vaccination schedule.”
Warp Speed CEO General Gustave Perna, confirmed his team is ready to ship vaccines “within 24 hours” of approval from the US Food and Drug Administration.
The distribution will be executed by private companies including McKesson Corp., a health care company that has wide experience in the distribution of flu vaccines.
Slaoui reminded Americans that it “will be very important” for everyone who gets the Moderna or the Pfizer vaccine to come back three or four weeks later, to get their second vaccine dose to complete the immunization schedule.
Across the Atlantic, Britain became the first country in the world to authorize a Covid-19 vaccine on Wednesday and is on track to launch its biggest ever vaccination drive within days.
The coronavirus has killed more than 1.4 million people around the world since it first emerged in China, a year ago.
In America, the virus has sickened more than 13.8 million people and killed more than 272,000 by December 2.
Another 16,170 people in Britain have tested positive for Covid-19, bringing the total number of coronavirus cases in the country to 1,659,256, according to official figures released on Wednesday.
The coronavirus-related deaths in Britain rose by 648 to 59,699, the data showed, Xinhua news agency reported.
The figures came as a new tier system of coronavirus restrictions replaced the month-long national lockdown in England which ended on Wednesday.
Under the new system, shops will be allowed to re-open across England, giving a Christmas bonanza to the struggling retail sector, but all bars and restaurants in the toughest Tier 3 areas will remain closed.
Helen Dickinson, chief executive of British Retail Consortium, said as billions of pounds were lost in sales during the lockdown, businesses were looking forward to welcoming back customers.
“Every purchase we make is a retailer helped, a job protected and a local community supported,” Dickinson told the BBC.
Putting about 98 per cent of England into Tier 2 and 3 restrictions, the new tier system was backed Tuesday by 291 votes to 78 in the House of Commons (lower house of the British Parliament).
Boris Johnson
Under Tier 1, people in the areas will be urged to work from home wherever possible.
In Tier 2 areas, pubs and bars must close unless they are serving substantial meals along with alcoholic drinks.
In Tier 3 areas, all pubs, bars and restaurants must close except for delivery, takeaway and drive-through. Hotels and indoor entertainment venues must also close in these areas.
To bring life back to normal, countries such as Britain, China, Germany, Russia and the US are racing against time to develop coronavirus vaccines.
A crucial meeting started on Thursday noon between Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh here as the next round of talks between farmers and the Centre also got way.
The meeting started at Shah’s residence soon after the Punjab Chief Minister reached there, minutes before the fourth round of government and farmer representative meeting at Vigyan Bhawan began.
Amid the escalating farmers protest around Delhi, spearheaded by farmers from Punjab and Haryana, Shah and Amarinder Singh’s meeting is significant.
They were expected to discuss the issues plaguing the army of farmers around the national capital’s periphery.
Tens of thousands are perched along Delhi’s Singhu and Tikri borders since November 26. These farmers owe allegiance to over 32 farm unions and are huddled under an open sky at the onset of a long winter, refusing to budge until their demands are met.
The Singhu and Tikri borders, and also Chilla and Ghazipur ones have now been hosting these multitudes for over a week. Hundreds of farmers have almost blocked entry and exit out of the capital.
Shah and Punjab Chief Minister’s meeting took place after the Home Minister met Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar and Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Minister Piyush Goyal for about half-an-hour ahead of government and farmers’ representatives meet.
The fourth round of meeting with over 32 farmer leaders started at Vigyan Bhawan after the earlier talks remained inconclusive on December 1.
In the last meeting, the farmers’ representatives had unanimously turned down the Centre’s proposal of a special committee to thrash out the differences and resolve concerns over the farm laws.
A breakthrough was not expected in a single meeting, sources had said, in view of the government firmly standing by the laws it has called “historic reforms” in the farm sector.
The farmers though have hardened their stance, warning that if on Thursday “the last chance” for the government to take a decision on the laws was not taken the stir could intensify further.
In place of a committee, they have demanded a special session of parliament to repeal what they have called “black laws” made to favour corporates — which not entertained might lead to a chokehold across the nation, not just Delhi.
“The State of Texas is already prepared for the arrival of a Covid-19 vaccine, and will swiftly distribute these vaccines to Texans who voluntarily choose to be immunized,” said Abbott…reports Asian Lite News
US state of Texas will receive over 1.4 million doses of the Covid-19 vaccines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Governor Greg Abbott has announced.
Abbott said on Wednesday the vaccines should begin arriving in Texas the week of December 14 and will be distributed to qualifying providers, Xinhua news agency reported.
According to Abbott, those who receive the initial doses will be based on the Vaccine Distribution Principles developed by the state’s Expert Vaccine Allocation Panel. Additional allotments may be made later this month, and increased allotments are expected starting in January.
“The State of Texas is already prepared for the arrival of a Covid-19 vaccine, and will swiftly distribute these vaccines to Texans who voluntarily choose to be immunized,” said Abbott.
Last month, Abbott and Texas Department of State Health Services announced guiding principles for the state’s Covid-19 vaccine allocation process, showing that healthcare workers likely to provide direct care for Covid-19 patients and other vulnerable residents will be the first to receive vaccines.
Daily new confirmed Covid-19 cases have surged in the state in the past month. Official figures showed that Texas averaged 8,372 new Covid-19 cases per day last month. In October, the state averaged more than 4,340 cases a day.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson holds a vial of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine Covid-19 candidate vaccine, known as AZD1222, at Wockhardt's pharmaceutical manufacturing facility in Wrexham, North Wales. Picture by Andrew Parsons / No 10 Downing Street
UK Ready to Rollout C-Vaccine; Sadiq urges every European Londoner to apply for settled status; Tanden recounts her journey; PDM’s 5th power show calls for Imran to quit – all in Asian Lite Daily Digital UK – please click here to read.
Negotiations must continue and there can always be alternatives, Lebanese President Michel Aoun noted…reports Asian Lite News
Lebanese President Michel Aoun on Wednesday said that Lebanon and Israel can overcome the difficulties that emerged in their latest negotiations on maritime border demarcation, according to a statement by Lebanon’s presidency.
“The difficulties … can be overcome through in-depth discussions based on international rights and articles of the law of the sea,” Aoun said during his meeting with John Desrocher, head of the US delegation mediating in the indirect border talks between Lebanon and Israel.
Negotiations must continue and there can always be alternatives, Aoun noted.
Lebanese officials said on Monday that the next round of negotiations with Israel over the maritime border demarcation was postponed, Xinhua reported.
The Lebanese delegation has pushed for an additional 1,430 square km to be included in Lebanese territory besides the already disputed 860-square-km area.
UAE Celebrates 49th National Day; Dubai receives first Israeli commercial flight; Tanden recounts her journey; PDM’s 5th power show calls for Imran to quit – all in Asian Lite Daily Digital Dubai – please click here to read.
The number of daily Covid-19 deaths in Germany increased by 487 in 24 hours and reached a new record on Wednesday, bringing the total death toll in the country to 17,123, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) said.
The number of new daily Covid-19 infections also remained high and increased by 17,270, now totalling over 1.08 million cases, according to the RKI. Germany is currently in an extended lockdown until December 20, which includes strict contact restrictions and the closure of all restaurants and bars, Xinhua reported.
Covid-19 outbreaks in Germany were being recorded “particularly in households and increasingly in nursing and long-term care homes,” but also in schools and daycare facilities for children, according to the RKI’s latest daily situation report.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel warned of a third Covid-19 wave on Monday. “We will still have to be very, very careful in the winter,” she stressed.
Meanwhile, the German pharmaceutical company BioNTech SE and the US company Pfizer Inc. announced on Wednesday that they had received the world’s first approval for a Covid-19 vaccine.
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) in the UK granted temporary authorization for emergency use for the Covid-19 vaccine BNT162b2, BioNTech and Pfizer announced in a joint statement.
“All levels are working hard to prepare for these future vaccinations,” said German Minister of Health Jens Spahn on Tuesday during his visit to the future Covid-19 vaccination centre in the city of Duesseldorf, which can administer up to 2,400 vaccinations per day.
Germany is aiming to have Covid-19 vaccination centres up and running by mid-December. “We are preparing to supply several tens of millions of citizens with a vaccine within a very short time,” said Spahn.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson holds a vial of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine Covid-19 candidate vaccine, known as AZD1222, at Wockhardt's pharmaceutical manufacturing facility in Wrexham, North Wales. Picture by Andrew Parsons / No 10 Downing Street
The vaccine will be rolled out to the priority groups including care home residents and staff, people over 80 and health and care workers, then to the rest of the population in order of age and risk, including those who are clinically extremely vulnerable.
Tens of thousands of people will receive an effective and high-quality Covid-19 vaccine from next week, as the UK becomes the first country in the western world to authorise a vaccine.
Following rigorous clinical trials involving thousands of people and extensive analysis of the vaccine’s safety, quality and effectiveness by experts from the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), Pfizer/BioNTech’s vaccine has been authorised for use in the UK, the Department of Health and Social Care said in a press release.
In making the recommendation to authorise supply, the MHRA will decide what additional quality assurance checks may be required before a vaccine can be made available. Pfizer will then deliver the vaccines to the UK as soon as possible.
The NHS has decades of experience in rolling out successful widespread vaccination programmes and has put in place extensive deployment plans.
In line with the recommendations of the independent Joint Committee for Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), the vaccine will be rolled out to the priority groups including care home residents and staff, people over 80 and health and care workers, then to the rest of the population in order of age and risk, including those who are clinically extremely vulnerable.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson holds a vial of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine Covid-19 candidate vaccine, known as AZD1222, at Wockhardt’s pharmaceutical manufacturing facility in Wrexham, North Wales. Picture by Andrew Parsons / No 10 Downing Street
The vaccine is given in two doses – three weeks apart – and data from clinical trials showed the vaccine is 94 percent effective in protecting people over the age of 65 from coronavirus, with trials suggesting it works equally well in people of all ages, races and ethnicities. There were also no serious safety concerns reported in the trials.
The UK was the first country to pre-order supplies of the vaccine from Pfizer/BioNTech, with 800,000 doses being made available next week and 40 million doses ordered overall – enough to vaccinate up to a third of the population, and the majority of doses anticipated in the first half of next year.
The full prioritisation list for vaccine rollout is as follows (in order of priority):
1. Residents in a care home for older adults and their carers
2. All those 80 years of age and over and frontline health and social care workers
3. All those 75 years of age and over
4. All those 70 years of age and over and clinically extremely vulnerable individuals
5. All those 65 years of age and over.
6. All individuals aged 16 years to 64 years with underlying health conditions which put them at higher risk of serious disease and mortality
7. All those 60 years of age and over
8. All those 55 years of age and over
9. All those 50 years of age and over
UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock chairs a Covid-19 press conference with General Sir Gordon Messenger, Head of Operations for the Community Testing Programme and NHS National Medical Director, Professor Stephen Powis inside No10 Downing Street. Picture by Freddie Mitchell / No 10 Downing Street
Health and Social Care Secretary Matt Hancock said:
“This is a momentous occasion and provides fresh hope that we can beat this pandemic, with the UK at the forefront of this revolutionary breakthrough.
“I can’t thank enough every single person who has contributed to this triumph – from the thousands of volunteers who took part in clinical trials, to the teams of expert scientists and clinicians at the MHRA who carefully analysed reams of data.
“This vaccine, when combined with effective treatments, will form a vital part in making Covid-19 a manageable disease, hopefully allowing us to return to normality in the future.
“This work will take time so for now we must all play our part and abide by the local restrictions to suppress the virus and protect the NHS as they start this vital work.”
Business Secretary Alok Sharma said:
“Since the start of the pandemic, every single person has made an immense sacrifice to protect themselves, their loved ones and the health of our nation. Through it all, we have remained united to defeat a virus that has taken too many before their time.
“As a nation we owe every scientist, clinician and trial volunteer an enormous debt of gratitude for their victory won against odds that at times seemed impossible. It is thanks to their efforts, and of our Vaccine Taskforce, that the UK was the first country to sign a deal with Pfizer/BioNTech and will now be the first to deploy their vaccine.
UK Business Secretary Alok Sharma holds a Covid-19 Press Conference with NHS Medical Director, Professor Stephen Powis, in 10 Downing Street. Picture by Pippa Fowles / No 10 Downing Street.
“While today’s breakthrough is a positive one, we will not end the pandemic overnight. But in years to come, we will look back and remember this moment as the day the United Kingdom led humanity’s charge against this terrible disease.”
The MHRA started the rolling review of Pfizer/BioNTech’s data in October and the Government asked the regulator to assess the vaccine for its suitability for authorisation under Regulation 174 of the Human Medicines Regulations, enabling the temporary supply of medicines to be authorised in response to a public health need, which the regulator has recommended.
NHS England will outline further details on deployment shortly, but the plans will include:
• Hospital hubs for NHS and care staff and older patients to get vaccinated;
• Local community services with local teams and GPs already signing up to take part in the programme;
• Vaccination centres across the country, ensuring people can access a vaccine regardless of where they live.
The global deployment of the vaccine will require a huge logistical exercise over land, air and sea.
Pfizer has years of proven experience in cold supply chain management and delivering temperature-controlled vaccines to locations across the world. It has developed packaging and storage innovations for the vaccine, including specifically designed, temperature-controlled thermal shippers to maintain conditions of ultra-low temperatures.
People sit on the lawn at Potters Fields Park in front of Tower Bridge in London, Britain. (Photo by Tim Ireland/Xinhua/IANS)
Deputy Chief Medical Officer for England Professor Jonathan Van-Tam:
“This is a remarkable day – congratulations to Pfizer/BioNTech and their researchers, and to all my colleagues in the Vaccine Taskforce for their tremendous work to get us to this point, and I want to thank the MHRA experts, including the experts at the Commission on Human Medicines, who have tirelessly and rigorously assessed the safety, effectiveness and quality of the vaccine.
“This vaccine has now passed all of the extensive checks needed for authorisation to supply and will soon be ready to be delivered to the NHS.
“To all those who are eligible – this is the start of vaccine supply for the UK. In time, you will be invited to book your appointments to get your vaccinations. I urge you to be ready, and to help make the process as smooth as possible. For now, stay patient, and keep yourselves safe by continuing to follow the rules and maintaining social distancing.”
As the JCVI have made clear, there will need to be flexibility in terms of operational challenges around delivery of the vaccine to those in care homes. In line with the advice, every effort will be made to supply vaccine and offer vaccinations to care home residents and we will deliver the vaccine according to clinical prioritisation and operational necessity.
The vaccine will be available for free across the UK and the Government is working with the devolved administrations to ensure it is deployed fairly across the UK under the Barnett formula.
Through the Vaccines Taskforce, the UK has secured early access to 357 million doses of seven of the most promising vaccine candidates so far. To date, the government has invested over £230 million into manufacturing a successful vaccine. In the Chancellor’s Spending Review, published on 25 November, it was announced that the Government has made more than £6 billion available to develop and procure successful vaccines.
Vaccine Deployment Minister Nadhim Zahawi said:
“The NHS has decades of experience in delivering highly successful vaccination programmes and has put in an enormous amount of work to get ready to roll out a Covid-19 vaccine to those most in need as quickly as possible.
“Once extensive quality checks have taken place, it can be transported to vaccination sites across the UK and carefully unpacked ready for vaccinations to begin this month, with large-scale vaccination happening in the new year.”
Chair of the government’s Vaccines Taskforce Kate Bingham said:
“Today is a momentous occasion and the UK will go down in history as the country that led the world in one of the biggest scientific breakthroughs of our time.
“I am incredibly proud of my team in the government’s Vaccines Taskforce who have worked tirelessly over the last six months to negotiate agreements with vaccine developers around the world and step up the UK’s vaccine manufacturing and logistics capabilities, so any potential candidate can be rolled out as soon as possible.
“The work does not stop here. The Taskforce will continue to monitor vaccines being developed around the world so that we have a diverse mix available, as well as ensure the UK is able to respond quickly to any future health crises.”
The Electoral Commission (EC) on Tuesday said more than 100,000 registered voters including election officials, security personnel, scribes, and all other persons discharging election duties on December 7, would participate in the special voting…reports Asian Lite News
Ghana has opened a special voting on to enable personnel who would not be able to cast their ballots on the election day, slated on December 7, to vote beforehand.
The Electoral Commission (EC) on Tuesday said more than 100,000 registered voters including election officials, security personnel, scribes, and all other persons discharging election duties on December 7, would participate in the special voting, Xinhua reported.
At the Trade Fair site special voting centre in the capital, there were personnel of Ghana military, police, immigration service, fire service, and the prisons service in the queues waiting to cast their ballots.
James Oppong Boanuh, the Ghana Police Inspector General (IGP), who also cast his ballot at the center, commended the EC for the “smooth process.”
“The electoral officers are doing their work well, and I went through the system and it was so smooth. I urge everybody to come and cast their votes,” said the IGP.
Although some security personnel could not get their names on the special voting list, Boanuh assured them that a special arrangement would be made for them to cast their ballots before embarking on their election duties on Monday.
“We are expecting 3,749 voters and that is how come we have six centers. Each center is hosting 625 voters. So far, I am very impressed. The arrangements that we have put in place are ensuring a smooth process,” Kofi Frimpong, the district electoral officer, told Xinhua.
The EC provided handwashing stands and bottles of alcohol-based hand sanitizers for voters to clean their hands before and after casting their ballots under the Covid-19 prevention protocols.
