Samoa election challenge Pfizer effective against variant

The Supreme Court in Samoa has dismissed the attorney general's attempt to have a challenge to the addition of an extra women's seat in parliament thrown out. The Fast party, which is locked in a 26-seat deadlock with the Human Rights Protection Party, was challenging the electoral commissioner's decision to add the seat, which went the way of the caretaker HRPP government, creating the deadlock. The constitution provides that 10 per cent of parliament's seats be reserved for women, but it also specifies that that is five seats. On Tuesday, the head of state, Tuimalealiifano Vaaletoa Sualauvi II, announced that a second election would be held to break the deadlock. The Attorney General, Savalenoa Mareva Bethamannandale, argued that April's election results were now void, so there was no point in proceeding with the challenge.

The Pfizer vaccine is 75 per cent effective against the South African Covid variant and gives 100 per cent protection against severe disease and death, real-world evidence shows. The data was from Qatar, which has suffered a resurgence of the virus since January, fuelled by the B.1.351 variant, one of the most worrying because of fears it might evade the immunity triggered by Covid-19 vaccines. However, records of more than a quarter of a million fully vaccinated with the Pfizer jab show substantial protection. The 75 per cent efficacy against infection was 20 percentage points lower than that reported in the clinical trial for the drug.