Global infections show signs of slowing
NEW YORK: Encouraging signs in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic are emerging, with new global infections slowing sharply, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
Almost a year after the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus a pandemic, global infections show signs of slowing. There were 2.7 million new Covid-19 cases in the week ended February. 14, the lowest since October, according to Johns Hopkins University.
That resulted in a 2.5% increase in total infections from the previous week, the weakest gain since the start of the pandemic and less than half the rate seen a month earlier.
The death toll is also beginning to ease, but at a less dramatic pace. Daily fatalities have averaged less than 10,000 over the past five days, down from a peak of more than 18,000 in midJanuary.
Pfizer shot less effective against S African strain
A laboratory study suggests that the South African variant, known as B.1.351, of the coronavirus may reduce antibody protection from the Pfizer Inc/BioNTech SE vaccine by two-thirds, and it is not clear if the shot will be effective against the mutation, the companies said on Wednesday.
The study found the vaccine was still able to neutralise the virus and there is not yet evidence from trials in people that the variant reduces vaccine protection, the companies said.
The findings were published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Getting a Covid-19 vaccination in Indonesia will be mandatory for eligible citizens, the government said, with the country seeking ways to quicken its inoculation program to curb Southeast Asia’s largest outbreak.
The government will punish citizens who refuse the vaccine, including with fines and delaying or halting the provision of social assistance and administrative services.
The United Nations on Wednesday led calls for a coordinated global effort to vaccinate against Covid-19, warning that gaping inequities in initial efforts put the whole planet at risk.
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres voiced alarm that just 10 nations have administered 75% of doses so far - and 130 countries have had none at all.
“The world urgently needs a global vaccination plan to bring together all those with the required power, scientific expertise and production and financial capacities,” Guterres said.
Trials of vaccines on pregnant women to start
Covid vaccine developers are set to begin trials for pregnant women, looking to provide reassurance the shots are safe.
Pfizer and BioNTech are starting trials for their messenger RNA vaccine in 4,000 women in the latter stages of pregnancy, according to the US online clinical trial registry. AstraZeneca Plc and Johnson & Johnson are planning to run trials in the coming months.