COVID-19 NEWS IN BRIEF
The World Health Organization’s advisory panel has recommended extending the use of a reduced dosage of Pfizer and BioNTech’s Covid-19 vaccine to children aged 5 to 11 years old.
The recommendation, which was announced on 21 January, comes after the Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE) on immunisation held a meeting to evaluate the vaccine. It is recommended for use in people aged 12 years and above.
The recommended dosage for the younger population is 10 micrograms instead of 30 micrograms offered to those 12 years and older.
“This age group [5 to 11 years] is in the lowest priority-use group for vaccination except for children who have comorbidities,” said SAGE chair Alejandro Cravioto.
The panel also recommended that booster doses of Covid-19 vaccine should be administered four to six months after the completion of the primary series, in high-priority groups such as older adults and health workers. Reuters
Hong Kong - Hong Kong will suspend faceto-face teaching in secondary schools from 24 January until after the approaching Lunar New Year on 1 February, authorities said, because of a rising number of coronavirus infections in several schools in the Chinese-ruled territory.
The government halted classes in primary schools and kindergartens early this month, and imposed curbs, such as a ban on restaurant dining after 6pm and the closure of venues such as gyms, cinemas and beauty salons.
Schools will stay shut until 7 February, after the Lunar New Year holidays, the government said on 20 January.
“The epidemic situation has become more severe in recent days,” the city’s education bureau said in a statement. “There have been many confirmed cases of unknown origin.”
The stringent measures return the Asian financial hub to the situation that existed after it first took such steps in 2020. Reuters
Stockholm – As the more easily transmitted Omicron variant of the virus spread across Sweden, the country set a new daily record for Covid-19 cases, registering 39,928 on 19 January, according to health agency data on 20 January.
The daily infection figures are typically revised somewhat as any delayed records of additional cases are added to the total for a given day. The previous record of 39,321 cases was set on 18 January.
The Swedish government recently announced more stringent restrictions as the Omicron variant has spread rapidly and has put strain on the country’s healthcare system. Reuters
Europe is moving fast to exit the emergency coronavirus measures that have disrupted all aspects of life for the past two years, a recognition that the measures have been largely futile against the Omicron variant.
Ireland is due to announce it will drop most pandemic restrictions once ministers meet to agree on a timetable after being given the all-clear by health officials.
England announced it will scrap rules forcing people to wear face masks in shops and end mandatory isolation for positive cases from 26 January.
France is relaxing curbs even after reporting a record number of cases -- almost 470,000 -- in one day earlier this week.
The various announcements mark a growing sign that the road back to normality, or something resembling it, is well under way in Europe. But they also reflect the fact that Omicron appears practically unstoppable, with the EU reporting more than 2.3 million cases on 20 January alone.
With Omicron symptoms milder than the earlier Delta variant and hospitalisation rates in check, governments are struggling to justify imposing curbs on people and businesses. Some have already started talking about treating Covid-19 as endemic, as they move toward “living with the virus” policies.
Although inoculations haven’t been able to halt Omicron infections, studies show they limit the chance of developing severe symptoms. Authorities have repeatedly pointed out that unvaccinated people make up the majority of intensive-care admissions from the virus. Bloomberg