30th Apr 2021 https://nfind.uk/lockdown_exit/index.php/newsletter=303 lockdown_exit

Just how much COVID-19 vaccine money is on the table? A whopping $157B through 2025, report says

Fierce Pharma Drugmakers who seized the opportunity to develop vaccines against the coronavirus are on their way to reaping significant revenues. Exactly how much money is on the table In its annual forecast for global drug spending the IQVIA Institute for Human Data Science put the figure at 157 billion through 2025. Its one of the many intriguing projections in this edition of IQVIAs annual drug spending forecast the groups first since the coronavirus pandemic put the worldwide economy on tilt. https://www.fiercepharma.com/pharma/how-much-covid-19-vaccine-money-table-157b-through-2025-analyst 29th Apr 2021

Just how much COVID-19 vaccine money is on the table? A whopping $157B through 2025, report says

Reuters Total global spending on COVID19 vaccines is projected to reach 157 billion by 2025 driven by mass vaccination programs underway and booster shots expected every two years according to a report by U.S. health data company IQVIA Holdings. IQVIA said it expects the first wave of COVID19 vaccinations to reach about 70 of the worlds population by the end of 2022. Booster shots are likely to follow initial vaccinations every two years the report said based on current data on the duration of effect of the vaccines. The United States is preparing for the possibility that a booster shot will be needed between nine to 12 months after people receive their first full inoculations against COVID19 a White House official said earlier this month. https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/world-spend-157-billion-covid-19-vaccines-through-2025-report-2021-04-29/?taid=608a940f98240b000143f889&amputm_campaign=trueAnthem:+Trending+Content&amputm_medium=trueAnthem&amputm_source=twitter 29th Apr 2021

EU Parliament: COVID-19 pass should guarantee free movement

The Associated Press European lawmakers said Thursday that COVID19 certificates aimed at facilitating travel across the European Union should be enough to move freely this summer a position likely to clash with member states prerogatives in their upcoming negotiations. EU legislators said Thursday in their negotiating position on the European Commissions proposal that EU governments shouldnt impose quarantines tests or selfisolation measures on certificate holders. The EUs executive arm proposed last month that the certificates would be delivered to EU residents who can prove they have been vaccinated and also to those who tested negative for the virus or have proof they recovered from it. https://apnews.com/article/europe-coronavirus-lifestyle-travel-health-9df0c5659b6b0944c7a1af2814ec9e4c 29th Apr 2021

Free rides and beer: Incentives are added to vaccine drive

The Associated Press Free beer pot and doughnuts. Savings bonds. A chance to win an allterrain vehicle. Places around the U.S. are offering incentives to try to energize the nations slowing vaccination drive and get Americans to roll up their sleeves. These relatively small mostly corporate promotion efforts have been accompanied by more serious and farreaching attempts by officials in cities such as Chicago which is sending specially equipped buses into neighborhoods to deliver vaccines. Detroit is offering 50 to people who give others a ride to vaccination sites and starting Monday will send workers to knock on every door in the city to help residents sign up for shots. Public health officials say the efforts are crucial to reach people who havent been immunized yet whether because they are hesitant or because they have had trouble making an appointment or getting to a vaccination site. https://apnews.com/article/us-news-coronavirus-business-health-09632d90e5ee363aeb988a9a8d5d2fc1 29th Apr 2021

Demand for vaccine in Connecticut drops 50% over 2 weeks

Associated Press Demand for COVID19 vaccinations in Connecticut has decreased by about 50 over the past two weeks prompting state officials to now focus heavily on reaching people especially younger residents with the states fleet of mobile vaccination vans and walkup vaccinations at more than 100 existing clinics. Gov. Ned Lamont said plans are underway to bring the vans to large workplaces fairs parades and other large gatherings. Were doing everything we can to make the last of our folks the 34 who arent vaccinated I hope they get vaccinated vaccinated soon the Democrat said during his regular COVID briefing with reporters. As of Thursday more than 1.32 million residents have been fully vaccinated. https://apnews.com/article/connecticut-coronavirus-lifestyle-business-health-a6808df25e45fcb00d6b413a0fa23146 29th Apr 2021

Japan business leaders suggest ways for govt to speed up vaccination rate

Reuters Japanese business leaders and a Nobelprizewinning biologist called upon the government to reform its vaccination programme including allowing drivethrough inoculations as the nation struggles to contain a resurgence of the COVID19 pandemic. Japan has secured the largest quantity of COVID19 vaccines in Asia as it gears up for the summer Olympics. But it has inoculated only 1.6 of its population so far the slowest among wealthy countries. Government data on Wednesday showed that Japan has only used about a fifth of the coronavirus vaccine doses it has imported so far underscoring logistical hurdles such as a shortage of medical staff https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/japan-business-leaders-suggest-ways-govt-speed-up-vaccination-rate-2021-04-29/ 29th Apr 2021

Policies to eliminate Covid instead of mitigating it through lockdowns were better for the economy and saved more lives, study claims

Daily Mail Experts argue deaths economic impact and loss of freedom lower in elimination. They said damage of locking down hard and early would pay off in the long run. Only five countries out of 37 of the worlds most developed chose elimination. All of Europe except Iceland went for mitigation controlling the virus https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9520825/Coronavirus-Covid-elimination-policies-best-says-Oxford-article.html 28th Apr 2021

India sees new record COVID cases and deaths as crisis deepens

Al Jazeera English Indias total COVID19 cases have passed 18 million after another world record number of daily infections as gravediggers worked around the clock to bury victims and hundreds more were cremated in makeshift pyres in parks and parking lots. India reported 379257 new infections and 3645 new deaths on Thursday health ministry data showed the highest number of fatalities in a single day since the start of the pandemic. However medical experts believe Indias true COVID19 numbers may be five to 10 times greater than the official tally. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/4/29/india-sees-record-covid-cases-deaths-crisis-deepens 29th Apr 2021

India sees new record COVID cases and deaths as crisis deepens

AlJazeera On April 14 Ashish Shrivastav 39 bundled his 70yearold father who was complaining of breathlessness into his small nano car and took him to the Vivekanand hospital in Lucknow capital of Uttar Pradesh state. At the hospital his father Sushil Kumar tested positive for COVID19 but despite his age and vulnerability the hospital told him he could not be admitted as there were no beds available. Ashish who runs a private rehabilitation centre for children with disabilities says he begged the doctors to admit his father but they told him to go to a governmentrun hospital instead. So Ashish put his father back in the car bought two fivelitre oxygen cylinders and began the search for a hospital that would admit him. https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2021/4/29/i-went-everywhere-like-a-beggar-my-father-still 29th Apr 2021

India sees new record COVID cases and deaths as crisis deepens

Reuters Ashish Poddar kept an ice pack on hand as he waited outside a New Delhi hospital for a black market dealer to deliver two drugs for his father who was gasping for breath inside with COVID19. But the drugs never arrived the ice that was intended to keep the medicines cool melted and his father died hours later. As India faces a devastating surge of new coronavirus infections overwhelming its health care system people are taking desperate measures to try to keep loved ones alive. In some cases they are turning to unproven medical treatments in others to the black market for lifesaving medications that are in short supply. Poddar had been told by the private hospital treating his father Raj Kumar Poddar that remdesivir an antiviral and tocilizumab a drug that blunts human immune responses were needed to keep the 68yearold man alive. https://apnews.com/article/india-science-coronavirus-business-health-c2a72c4d2ab29aa163e785ca98181023 29th Apr 2021

India sees new record COVID cases and deaths as crisis deepens

AlJazeera Africa is watching with total disbelief as India struggles with a devastating resurgence in COVID19 cases the continents top public health official said Thursday as African officials worry about delays in vaccine deliveries caused by Indias crisis. The African continent with roughly the same population as India and fragile health systems must be very very prepared since a similar scenario could happen here John Nkengasong director of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told reporters. What is happening in India cannot be ignored by our continent he said and urged African countries to avoid mass gatherings including political rallies. We do not have enough health care workers we do not have enough oxygen he warned. Africas vaccine supply heavily relies on India whose Serum Institute is the source of the AstraZeneca vaccines distributed by the global COVAX project to get doses to low and middleincome countries. Indias export ban on vaccines has severely impacted the predictability of the rollout of vaccination programs and will continue to do so for the coming weeks and perhaps months Nkengasong said. https://apnews.com/article/united-nations-africa-coronavirus-coronavirus-vaccine-health-a331e844c3364f800661eaa828c37078 29th Apr 2021

India sees new record COVID cases and deaths as crisis deepens

AlJazeera On Sunday Maria Mehra a 56yearold COVID19 patient was gasping for breath at her home in Mumbai. Her oxygen level had dropped to 76 and she needed immediate hospitalisation. But there were no beds available given the record number of infections across the metropolis over the past several weeks. Her desperate family tried frantically to arrange a hospital bed or an oxygen cylinder for her but couldnt find one until Marias brotherinlaw Jackson Quadras 47 reached out to Shahnawaz Shahalam Sheikh. Sheikh provided them with an oxygen cylinder around midnight. Hours later Quadras secured a hospital bed in Malad a suburb in north Mumbai for Maria but remains thankful to Sheikh whose timely intervention helped her. Shahnawaz bhai brother is everything for us. He saved the life of my sisterinlaw Jackson told Al Jazeera. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/4/29/sold-his-suv-to-buy-oxygen-for-people-indias-good-samaritans 29th Apr 2021

India sees new record COVID cases and deaths as crisis deepens

CIDRAP Indias COVID19 surge continues unabated with 386829 new cases and 3501 deaths according to World O Meter. The daily case number is the highest any country has ever recorded and it marks the ninth day in a row the country has reported more than 300000. The crisis has galvanized organizations and government bodies into action The World Health Organization WHO alone is sending 1.2 million reagents used for diagnostic testing mobile field hospitals with up to 50 beds 4000 oxygen concentrators and technical staff support according to a news release yesterday. Also yesterday the White House said in a statement that it will deliver 100 million worth of supplies including oxygen cylinders and concentrators largescale oxygen generation units with trained personnel that can support up to 20 patients each 15 million N95 respirators rapid diagnostic tests and up to 20000 treatment courses of the antiviral drug remdesivir. The US government also confirmed it will send manufacturing supplies for the AstraZenecaOxford COVID19 vaccine. Because of the outbreak the US State Department issued a level 4 travel advisory and told Americans not to travel to India or to leave as soon as safely possible according to Bloomberg. https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2021/04/who-sends-covid-19-aid-india-nears-400000-daily-cases 29th Apr 2021

India sees new record COVID cases and deaths as crisis deepens

AlJazeera A devastating surge in coronavirus infections has exposed Indias dilapidated health infrastructure and a chronic shortage of oxygen a key treatment for seriously ill COVID19 patients. Dire oxygen shortages as India battles a ferocious new wave means boom times for profit gougers although some young volunteers are doing their best to help people on social media. Oxygen therapy is crucial for severe COVID19 patients with hypoxaemia when oxygen levels in the blood are too low. Some clinical studies show that up to a quarter of hospitalised COVID19 patients require oxygen therapy and upwards to twothirds of those in intensive care units community health specialist Rajib Dasgupta told the AFP news agency. This is why it is imperative to fix oxygensupply systems in hospital settings as this is a disease that affects lungs primarily. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/4/29/why-is-india-facing-a-deadly-crunch-of-oxygen-amid-covid-surge 29th Apr 2021

India sees new record COVID cases and deaths as crisis deepens

BBC News Indias deadly Covid19 second wave has devastated big cities like Delhi Mumbai Lucknow and Pune. Hospitals and crematoriums have run out of space and funerals are taking place in car parks. But the pandemic has now firmly gripped many smaller cities towns and villages where the devastation is largely underreported. Rajesh Soni spent eight hours taking his father from one hospital to another in a tuktuk in Kota district in the northern state of Rajasthan on Tuesday. He couldnt get an ambulance and the rickety vehicle was his only option. At 5pm he decide to end his search for a hospital bed as his fathers condition was deteriorating. He then left everything to fate and came home. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-56913047 29th Apr 2021

India sees new record COVID cases and deaths as crisis deepens

Sky News Of all the developing nations India should have been able to summon a defence against COVIDs second wave. Overcrowding poverty and patchy public health systems across a vast and disparate country were all factors in the virus favour but India is also home to the worlds biggest vaccine manufacturing capacity. The Serum Institute of India SII is at the centre of plans for Covax a global coronavirus vaccinesharing project seen as the key to ensuring billions of people beyond the economically secure West receive protection. https://news.sky.com/story/the-worlds-vaccine-factory-that-cannot-protect-its-own-people-12288835 29th Apr 2021

Brazil looks for vaccines as India’s crisis slows deliveries

Aljazeera.com Brazil is struggling to find vaccines to tackle one of the worlds worst Covid19 outbreaks as resurgent outbreaks and supply shortages among top providers slow the pace of deliveries. Foreign Minister Carlos Franca told lawmakers Wednesday hes seeking vaccines from a variety of partners including 30 million doses from Chinas Sinopharm plus 8 million doses of the Indiaproduced AstraZeneca shot as well as any U.S. surplus. The problem he added is the pandemics upsurge in India and tight supplies globally have left Brazil scrambling for doses. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/4/29/brazil-looks-for-vaccines-as-indias-crisis-slows-deliveries 29th Apr 2021

US begins exporting Pfizer vaccine to Mexico: report

The Hill The U.S. will begin to send the Pfizer vaccine to Mexico as a Trump administration rule barring dose exports has expired Reuters reported. A deal that Pfizer made with the Trump White House last year barred the company from sending doses of its vaccine to other countries since it was made in the U.S. but that deal expired on March 31 a U.S. official told Reuters. The source also added that Pfzier will begin to send shots aboard as it takes up extra capacity in U.S. facilities. The company has already shipped more than 10 million doses of its vaccine to Mexico making it the countrys largest supplier according to Reuters. https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/public-global-health/551088-us-begins-exporting-pfizer-vaccine-to-mexico-report 29th Apr 2021

UK orders 60m more doses of Pfizer Covid vaccine for booster jabs

The Guardian The UK has ordered a further 60m doses of the PfizerBioNTech Covid vaccine in an effort to ensure that booster jabs can be given from this autumn the government has announced. The health secretary Matt Hancock made the announcement at a Downing Street press conference on Wednesday and said the extra doses would be used alongside other approved vaccines in protecting the progress that we have made. Hancock said We have a clear route out of this crisis but this is no time for complacency its a time for caution so we can keep the virus under control while we take steps back to normal life. Englands deputy chief medical officer Jonathan VanTam said that cases had dropped to very low levels on a par with the situation in September. https://www.theguardian.com/society/2021/apr/28/uk-orders-60m-more-doses-of-pfizer-covid-vaccine-for-booster-jabs 28th Apr 2021

Germany says new EU COVID vaccine contracts have clear rules on delivery shortfalls

Reuters The European Unions contracts for COVID19 vaccines to be delivered in 202223 contain clear rules what would happen if the vaccine makers do not deliver Germanys Health Minister Jens Spahn said on Thursday signalling the bloc had learned its lesson after troubles with AstraZeneca. The European Commission has launched legal proceedings against the AngloSwedish drugmaker for not respecting its contract for the supply of COVID19 vaccines and for not having a reliable plan to ensure timely deliveries. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/germany-says-new-eu-covid-vaccine-contracts-have-clear-rules-delivery-shortfalls-2021-04-29/ 29th Apr 2021

BioNTech expects vaccine trial results for babies by September

AlJazeera BioNTech expects results by September from trials testing the COVID vaccine it developed with Pfizer on babies as young as six months old German magazine Spiegel cited the companys CEO as saying. In July the first results could be available for the fiveto12yearolds in September for the younger children BioNTech Chief Executive Ugur Sahin told Spiegel. He added it takes about four to six weeks to evaluate the data. If all goes well as soon as the data is evaluated we will be able to submit the application for approval of the vaccine for all children in the respective age group in different countries he said. BioNTech and Pfizer asked US regulators this month to approve the emergency use of their vaccine for adolescents aged 12 to 15. Sahin was quoted by Spiegel as saying the company was in the final stages before submission to European regulators for children aged 12 and older. A trial published at the end of March found the companies COVID19 vaccine was safe effective and produces robust antibody responses in adolescents. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/4/29/biontech-expects-vaccine-trial-results-for-babies-by-september 29th Apr 2021

BioNTech chief confident Covid jab will work on variant found in India

The Financial Times BioNTechs chief executive has said he is confident the Covid19 vaccine his company pioneered with Pfizer will work against a new variant circulating in India where health officials are recording hundreds of thousands of new coronavirus cases a day. Ugur Sahin who founded the German biotech with his wife Ozlem Tureci said BioNTech had developed the vaccine with variants in mind. It will hold Im confident of that he said adding that BioNTechs early experience developing cancer therapies meant that the company had been prepared for the virus to mutate. We come out of cancer medicine and there the tumour is constantly changing and mutating...So we have experience with these escape mechanisms he said at an online meeting with reporters. https://www.ft.com/content/7453f162-1c8e-4624-9f7a-7abb13435bc0 28th Apr 2021

First coronavirus vaccine for children could be approved in June

Telegraph.co.uk The first coronavirus vaccine for children could be approved in June. A modified dose of the Pfizer vaccine for children over 12 has already been submitted for approval in the USA https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/04/29/first-coronavirus-vaccine-children-could-approved-june/ 29th Apr 2021

Brazil tops 400,000 virus deaths amid fears of renewed surge

The Associated Press Brazil on Thursday became the second country to officially top 400000 COVID19 deaths losing another 100000 lives in just one month as some health experts warn there may be gruesome days ahead when the Southern Hemisphere enters winter. April was Brazils deadliest month of the pandemic with thousands of people losing their lives daily at crowded hospitals. The countrys Health Ministry registered more than 4000 deaths on two days early in the month and its sevenday average topped out at above 3100. That figure has tilted downward in the last two weeks to less than 2400 deaths per day though on Thursday the Health Ministry announced another 3001 deaths bringing Brazils total to 401186. Local health experts have celebrated the recent decline of cases and deaths plus the eased pressure on the Brazilian health care system but only modestly. They are apprehensive of another wave of the disease like those seen in some European nations due to a premature resumption of activity in states and cities combined with slow vaccination rollout. https://apnews.com/article/latin-america-brazil-coronavirus-health-88d7ef48e1dff1d23f18b05e8d548ad1 29th Apr 2021

Russians Reject Vaccines as Kremlin Fears New Covid-19 Wave

Bloomberg Facing a rising wave of Covid19 infections and a vaccination rate that isnt keeping up the Kremlin is trying to contain the epidemic without alarming Russians. Even insiders worry it wont succeed. Unofficial government statistics show the third wave has begun according to two officials with knowledge of the situation who asked not to be identified in order to speak candidly. Months of upbeat assessments from the Kremlin that the situation is under control have depressed demand for vaccines as much of the population no longer fears the virus the officials said. Of course we expect demand for the vaccines will grow Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on a conference call Wednesday adding that data shows there isnt a third wave currently. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-04-28/russians-reject-vaccines-as-kremlin-fears-third-wave-of-covid-19 29th Apr 2021

Cuba could be closing in on COVID vaccine sovereignty

Al Jazeera English With two domestically produced COVID19 vaccines in stagethree clinical trials Cuba is racing towards potentially becoming the first country in Latin America to develop its own shot against the coronavirus. The island of 11 million people which has been under a strict US trade embargo for decades is in process of developing five experimental shots including Soberana 02 and Abdala which reached finalstage trials last month. The names of the vaccines reveal much about how Cuba sees the national effort. Soberana translates as sovereign while the Abdala shot was named after a patriotic poem by the Cuban revolutionary hero Jose Marti. Around 44000 people will receive the Soberana 02 vaccine and some 48000 volunteers have been recruited for the Abdala trial. According to local reports an additional 150000 frontline workers will also receive the Soberana 02 shot. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/4/29/cuba-is-closing-in-on-covid-19-vaccine-sovereignty 30th Apr 2021

Covid-19: One dose of vaccine cuts risk of passing on infection by as much as 50%, research shows

The BMJ Adults infected with covid19 three weeks after receiving one dose of the PfizerBioNTech or OxfordAstraZeneca vaccine were 3849 less likely to pass the virus on to their household contacts than people who were unvaccinated a preprint released by Public Health England has shown.The research looked at the proportion of household contacts who tested positive 214 days after vaccinated index cases comparing this with households where the index case was unvaccinated. The team said that protection was seen from around 14 days after vaccination and similar levels were observed regardless of the age of cases or contacts. Public Health England said that this protection was on top of the reduced risk of a vaccinated person developing symptomatic infection in the first place which was around 6065 four weeks after one dose of either vaccine. This is very promising said Deborah DunnWalters the British Society for Immunologys covid19 taskforce chair and professor of immunology at the University of Surrey. While this study brings welcome news we must not be complacent . . . It is still very important for us all to get two doses of the covid19 vaccine to ensure we receive the optimal and longest lasting protection both for ourselves and our communities. https://www.bmj.com/content/373/bmj.n1112 29th Apr 2021

Egypt en route to coronavirus vaccine production

Egypt Today Officially Egypt will locally produce Chinas Sinovac and Russian Sputnik V vaccines and is planning to secure millions of doses annually as part of the states industry localization plan. Egypt already got over 1.5 million coronavirus vaccine doses and has contracted to get millions others from China and through the COVID19 Vaccines Global Access COVAX. However the preventive health officials in the country know that these vaccines especially the Chinese is likely a shortterm vaccine and therefore citizens may have to take the vaccine several times over the life course. https://www.egypttoday.com/Article/1/101443/Egypt-en-route-to-coronavirus-vaccine-production 29th Apr 2021

Moderna plans to produce up to 3bn COVID-19 vaccine doses in 2022

The Irish Times Moderna said it would produce as many as 3 billion doses of its Covid19 vaccine next year as it makes new investments to bolster output at several factories in the US and Europe. The biotech company said it would increase supply by 50 per cent at its Norwood Massachusetts plant which makes much of the vaccine substance used in shots for the US market. The investments would also enable partner Lonza Group which is making supply for foreign markets to double its output at a factory in Switzerland that makes vaccine substance. Vaccine output at third factory in Spain operated by another partner Laboratorios Farmaceuticos Rovi would also more than double under the plan. The increased production from the companyowned and partner factories is expected to ramp up in late 2021 and early 2022 Moderna said. https://www.irishtimes.com/business/health-pharma/moderna-plans-to-produce-up-to-3bn-covid-19-vaccine-doses-in-2022-1.4551036 29th Apr 2021

Brazil Says Russian Covid Vaccine Carried Live Cold Virus

Moscow Times Tainted batches of Russias Sputnik V Covid vaccine sent to Brazil carried a live version of a common coldcausing virus the South American countrys health regulator reported in a presentation explaining its decision to ban the drugs import. Top virologist Angela Rasmussen told AFP the finding raises questions about the integrity of the manufacturing processes and could be a safety issue for people with weaker immune systems if the problem was found to be widespread. https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2021/04/28/brazil-says-russian-covid-vaccine-carried-live-cold-virus-a73769 29th Apr 2021