21st Jun 2022 https://nfind.uk/lockdown_exit/index.php/newsletter=684 lockdown_exit

Lockdown Exit

BBC News Over75s and people at high risk have been urged to get a Covid booster vaccine amid warnings of a new wave of infections in Scotland. The spring booster jab is available until 30 June to everyone in the older age group and people over 12 if they have a weakened immune system. About a third of Scots in the immunosuppressed group have not yet come forward for an additional vaccine. Latest data estimates that around one in 30 people in Scotland has Covid. The Office for National Statistics ONS estimates that 176900 people have the virus about 3.36 of the population. https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-61857789?at_custom2=twitter&ampat_custom4=F06B0E2C-EFC7-11EC-BABD-5BF64744363C&ampat_medium=custom7&ampat_custom1=%5Bpost+type%5D&ampat_campaign=64 19th Jun 2022

Lockdown Exit

The Wall Street Journal The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended that children as young as 6 months receive newly authorized Covid19 shots the final step to making the vaccines available. The CDC said Saturday that the young children should receive either the twodose series from Moderna Inc. or the threedose series made by Pfizer Inc. and partner BioNTech SE. As soon as Monday children under 5 years who havent been able to get vaccinated during the pandemic could start getting inoculated. Together with science leading the charge we have takenanother important stepforwardin our nations fight against Covid19. We know millions of parents and care givers are eager to get their young children vaccinated and with todays decision they can CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said. https://www.wsj.com/articles/cdc-advisers-recommend-covid-19-vaccines-for-young-children-11655573423 19th Jun 2022

Lockdown Exit

Bloomberg Article reports that the World Trade Organization approved a politically important deal Friday to water down intellectual property restrictions for the manufacture of Covid19 vaccines after an almost twoyear effort involving scores of highlevel meetings and much political arm twisting. During the early morning hours in Geneva WTO ministers approved a package of agreements that included the vaccine patent waiver which DirectorGeneral Ngozi OkonjoIweala previously said was necessary to end the morally unacceptable inequity of access to Covid19 vaccines. The WTOs lastminute deal secured after an allnight negotiating session in Geneva is an important victory for OkonjoIweala the former head of Gavi the vaccine alliance who actively stumped for the accord during her first year as the WTOs top trade official. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-06-17/wto-approves-vaccine-patent-waiver-to-help-combat-covid-pandemic 19th Jun 2022

Lockdown Exit

Financial Times The World Trade Organization has struck deals on a partial patent waiver for Covid19 vaccines and made agreements in several other fields of global contention after a tense sixday ministerial meeting that has renewed some faith in the battered multilateral trading system. https://www.ft.com/content/9cfa15b6-dab8-4cc6-9ab4-c192c6ad0e0b 18th Jun 2022

Lockdown Exit

Financial Times Health regulators should decide by the end of the month whether to approve Covid19 vaccines targeting the most recent virus strains without first requiring clinical data BioNTechs chief executive has said as studies suggest jabs developed earlier in the pandemic are less effective against the latest variants. Uur ahin warned that a subvariant of Omicron that fully escapes vaccines protection might emerge as countries prepare to launch autumn booster campaigns. The debate over whether to allow a more rapid switch to an updated vaccine is becoming more urgent he said https://www.ft.com/content/1c1bcc16-afe6-4a13-8278-b2ee925f7f75 18th Jun 2022

Lockdown Exit

Business Standard Article reports that Japans Covid19 death rate is the lowest among the worlds wealthiest nations with health experts pointing to continued mask wearing extensive vaccination and an already healthy population as the core factors behind its success. The population has continued to adhere to basic infection control measures including avoiding crowds and poorly ventilated venues as other parts of the world grapple with pandemic fatigue. And Japans measures have been bolstered by a robust vaccination program and free medical care https://www.business-standard.com/article/international/how-is-japan-s-covid-death-rate-lowest-among-wealthiest-nations-in-world-122061800170_1.html 18th Jun 2022

Lockdown Exit

Financial Times European countries are experiencing a surge in Covid19 hospital admissions driven by subvariants of the highly infectious Omicron strain threatening a fresh global wave of the disease as immunity levels wane and pandemic restrictions are lifted. Admissions have risen in several countries including France and England according to data analysed by the Financial Times. The BA.5 subvariant of Omicron now accounts for more than 80 per cent of new infections in Portugal. In Germany where admissions have been rising for over a week the share of Covid19 infections ascribed to BA.5 doubled at the end of last month. https://www.ft.com/content/8c871596-d3c0-438c-b54c-f47b26aa4b7a 18th Jun 2022

Lockdown Exit

Bloomberg Chinas stringent zero Covid policy of travel restrictions and citywide lockdowns is likely to stretch into next year and is actively discouraging American and European investment in China the US ambassador to the country said. My honest assumption is that well see the continuation of zero Covid probably into the beginning months of 2023 thats what the Chinese government is signaling Nicholas Burns the American envoy in Beijing said during an online event on Thursday. The harsh lockdown in the commercial center and financial hub of Shanghai where many US companies have operations and base executives has prompted many American businesspeople to leave the country Burns said. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-06-16/china-s-zero-covid-policy-will-stretch-into-2023-us-envoy-says 18th Jun 2022

Lockdown Exit

Reuters The European Medicines Agency EMA started a rolling review on Friday of a variantadapted COVID19 vaccine from Moderna MRNA.O as coronavirus cases linked to Omicron subvariants see an uptick in the region. U.S.based Modernas socalled bivalent vaccine targets two strains of the SARSCoV2 virus behind COVID the original strain first identified in China and the Omicron variant. Last week Moderna said its bivalent vaccine produced a better immune response against Omicron than the original shot. https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/eu-drugs-watchdog-kicks-off-rolling-review-modernas-variant-vaccine-2022-06-17/ 17th Jun 2022

Lockdown Exit

Reuters The Swiss parliament failed to finance the governments plan to buy COVID19 vaccines in 2023 forcing the cabinet to try to renegotiate contracts with Moderna and PfizerBiontech for millions of doses. With the two houses of parliament split over the funding request budget rules required the adoption of the cheaper version of draft legislation the SDA news agency said in a report posted on parliaments website. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/swiss-covid-19-vaccine-purchase-plan-fails-pass-parliament-2022-06-16/ 16th Jun 2022

Exit Strategies

The Associated Press - en Español White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan tested positive on Saturday for COVID19 according to the White House. Sullivan typically has frequent contact with President Joe Biden but last was in contact with the president early in the week according to a senior administration official who spoke on condition of anonymity. Sullivan had been keeping his distance from Biden after a couple of people he had been in close contact with had tested positive for the virus the official said. Adrienne Watson a National Security Council spokeswoman said Sullivan is asymptomatic and he has not been in close contact with the president. https://apnews.com/article/biden-covid-health-jake-sullivan-national-security-b23be58299f54988ed60707816ba80b8 19th Jun 2022

Exit Strategies

Al Jazeera English The Chinese government has announced a 33point stimulus plan to put the economy back on track. China has been the biggest source of global economic growth for the past 20 years. And it has long defied predictions it would soon hit a wall. But strict COVID lockdowns a crackdown on tech companies and a real estate slump are challenging the worlds secondlargest economys expansion. Many financial institutions predict growth will fall well short of Beijings target of about 5.5 percent this year for the first time in decades. Elsewhere the United Kingdom plans to scrap parts of the postBrexit trade deal with the European Union. But can it do so And how will businesses be affected https://www.aljazeera.com/program/counting-the-cost/2022/6/18/can-china-revive-its-covid-hit-economy 19th Jun 2022

Exit Strategies

Australian Broadcasting Corporation Aged care visitor limits are among the last remaining COVID restrictions. Visitors are capped at two people each day impacting larger families. A major aged care provider expects the limits will be in place for a while longer https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-06-18/aged-care-covid-visitor-limits-in-wa-cause-heartbreak/101155994 18th Jun 2022

Exit Strategies

Business Insider on MSN.com Villages that housed athletes at the Beijing Winter Games being used as COVID19 quarantine camps. Hundreds have been sent to Olympic villages after an outbreak in Beijings entertainment district. Olympic villages offer ideal infrastructure for quarantine the Financial Times reported. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/china-turns-winter-olympics-villages-into-quarantine-camps-to-stamp-out-new-covid-19-outbreaks-report-says/ar-AAYCgMq 18th Jun 2022

Exit Strategies

Reuters The United States ambassador to China Nicholas Burns said on Thursday he expects Beijings zero COVID policy to persist into early 2023 and that U.S. businesses were reluctant to invest in the country until restrictions ease. The reemergence of infections in Chinas capital Beijing has raised new concerns about the outlook for the worlds second largest economy which had recently emerged from a long lockdown that shook global supply chains in its most populous city and commercial hub Shanghai. https://www.reuters.com/world/us-envoy-china-expects-zero-covid-policy-persist-into-2023-2022-06-16/ 18th Jun 2022

Exit Strategies

Reuters There will not be another attempt to make COVID19 vaccinations compulsory said German Health Minister Karl Lauterbach while making the case for more people to get a second booster shot. Anyone who is often in contact with others and wants to protect themselves and others should consider a fourth shot regardless of age said Lauterbach. Some 80 of Germanys over60s have not had their fourth COVID19 shot he added. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/german-health-minister-pushes-fourth-covid-shot-ahead-autumn-wave-2022-06-17/ 18th Jun 2022

Exit Strategies

The Wall Street Journal U.S. health regulators cleared for use Covid19 vaccines from Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE and from Moderna Inc. in children as young as 6 months. Some 1 years after first authorizing the shots for people of older ages the Food and Drug Administration on Friday expanded use of the vaccines to the nearly 20 million children in the U.S. from 6 months to under 5 years. A national campaign to vaccinate the young children is expected to kick off as soon as Monday after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention signs off in the coming days. https://www.wsj.com/articles/fda-authorizes-first-covid-19-vaccines-for-young-children-11655471242 18th Jun 2022

Exit Strategies

The Independent In an abrupt change of course the White House is now declining to comment on the frequency of President Joe Bidens COVID19 testing regimen even as it maintains that it would inform the public if he were to ever test positive for the coronavirus. Since Inauguration Day the White House had frequently answered questions from reporters about when Biden 79 last tested negative for the virus. Now the White House says its policy is not to answer those questions. Im telling you he has a regular cadence White House press secretary Karine JeanPierre said Thursday refusing to say what day he last tested negative. I just dont have a date to share with you but he does have a regular weekly cadence. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/white-house-ap-joe-biden-karine-jeanpierre-washington-b2103123.html 17th Jun 2022

Exit Strategies

The Washington Post More than a year and a half after the oldest Americans gained access to coronavirus vaccines the nations youngest citizens are poised to start getting shots next week a move made possible when federal regulators Friday authorized vaccines for children as young as 6 months. For many parents and pediatricians the Food and Drug Administration clearing of two vaccines one by Moderna and the other by Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech comes as a huge relief. Fridays emergencyuse authorizations arrived two days after a panel of external advisers unanimously recommended that the agency greenlight vaccines for the last age group eligible for a shot of protection against the virus. Many parents caregivers and clinicians have been waiting for a vaccine for younger children and this action will help protect those down to 6 months of age FDA Commissioner Robert M. Califf said in a statement. https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2022/06/17/young-children-coronavirus-vaccine-fda-authorizes/ 17th Jun 2022

Exit Strategies

Reuters The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Friday authorized two COVID19 vaccines for children under 5 opening the door to vaccinating millions of the countrys youngest children once the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention agrees. The FDA authorized PfizerBioNTechs COVID19 vaccine for children aged 6 months to 4 years and Moderna Incs shot for those 6 months to 17 years. Pfizers is already authorized for those over the age of 5. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-fda-authorizes-covid-vaccines-youngest-children-2022-06-17/ 17th Jun 2022

Partisan Exits

The Independent The government has broken its promise to deliver 100 million surplus Covid vaccines to poor countries after sharply cutting international aid spending. At a G7 meeting in June last year Boris Johnson pledged to send the vaccines to developing countries within a year to help close the global vaccine gap and vaccinate the world. But a year later the government has delivered barely a third of the number of promised jabs with just 36.5 million deployed as of the end of May a deficit of 63.5 million doses. Figures published by the government also show that ministers have effectively charged developing countries for the leftover jabs by deducting them from existing aid and even added a markup on the UKs original purchase price. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/boris-johnson-covid-vaccines-aid-donations-b2103478.html 18th Jun 2022

Partisan Exits

Reuters I thought it would be impossible to deny me. Thats what Cody Flint who used to work as a crop duster in Mississippi said he expected when he filed a claim with an obscure government tribunal that provides compensation for COVID19 vaccinerelated injuries. Flint 34 told me that he submitted hundreds of pages of supporting material including reports from four doctors who attributed his episodes of vertigo headaches and partial loss of hearing and eyesight afflictions that have ended his career as a pilot at least for now to a rare sideeffect of the Pfizer vaccine. https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/covid-vaccine-injury-plaintiffs-face-long-odds-us-compensation-program-2022-06-16/ 16th Jun 2022

Continued Lockdown

CNN When I left a Covidravaged Hong Kong I was in search of a sanctuary. It was early March and the city was in the throes of the biggest coronavirus outbreak per capita in the world. Little could I have known as I boarded the plane that my cunning escape plan would take me from the frying pan into the fire that as I landed in Shanghai I would be swapping the worlds biggest outbreak for the worlds strictest lockdown and 70 days of enforced confinement. Still less could I have foreseen that after serving three weeks of governmentmandated quarantine on arrival my housing compound would be hermetically sealed for a further 49 days straight or that my mom and I would catch Covid or that I would be carted off for a further spell of isolation at one of the governments notorious fangcang camps. https://www.cnn.com/2022/06/17/asia/shanghai-covid-quarantine-lockdown-experience-dst-intl-hnk/index.html 18th Jun 2022

Scientific Viewpoint

The BMJ The risk of developing long covid is lower among people with the omicron variant of SARSCoV2 than with delta shows an analysis of self reported data to the UK ZOE covid app.Researchers from Kings College London looked at data logged by 56 003 adults who tested positive between 20 December 2021 and 9 March 2022 when the omicron variant was dominant. They compared these with 41 361 who tested positive between 1 June 2021 and 27 November 2021 when the delta variant was most common. Among the cases in the omicron period 2501 people 4.5 reported they had experienced long covid defined as having new or ongoing symptoms four weeks or more after they had tested positive. This compared with 4469 10.8 of people in the delta period according to the analysis published as a letter in the Lancet. https://www.bmj.com/content/377/bmj.o1500 18th Jun 2022

Scientific Viewpoint

The Wall Street Journal Though most vaccines take years to develop the Covid shots now in use were created in record timein a matter of months. For health authorities and a public desperate for tools to deal with the pandemic their speedy arrival provided a huge lift preventing hospitalizations and deaths while helping people to escape lockdowns and return to work school and many other aspects of preCovid life. But the Covid vaccines dont last nearly as long as shots given for other viral illnesses such as polio mumps and hepatitis which remain effective for years or decades. Even more worrisome to some scientists and public health officials the current vaccines dont fully protect against infections which hurts their overall effectiveness and gives the virus an opportunity to mutate into more contagious and lethal strains. https://www.wsj.com/articles/can-we-develop-a-covid-19-vaccine-that-lasts-11655478373 18th Jun 2022

Scientific Viewpoint

Bloomberg US testing for monkeypox is insufficient to determine how widespread the virus is and where new cases are cropping up according to infectious disease experts and advocates concerned about a sluggish response to the outbreak thats already hit 32 countries. While government labs have the capacity to test as many as 8000 samples a week theyre only using 2 of that capability suggesting that about 23 monkeypox tests are being performed a day said James Krellenstein the cofounder of PrEP4All an HIV advocacy group that widened its focus during the pandemic. Much more testing is needed to find out where the pathogen is and how fast its moving he said. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-06-16/monkeypox-cases-could-spread-unseen-in-us-if-testing-bottlenecks-don-t-improve 18th Jun 2022

Scientific Viewpoint

Reuters The Omicron variant of coronavirus is less likely to cause long COVID than previous variants according to the first peerreviewed study of its kind from the United Kingdom. Researchers at Kings College London using data from the ZOE COVID Symptom study app found the odds of developing long COVID after infection were 20 to 50 lower during the Omicron wave in the UK compared to Delta. The figure varied depending on the patients age and the timing of their last vaccination. https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/omicron-less-likely-cause-long-covid-uk-study-2022-06-16/ 18th Jun 2022

Scientific Viewpoint

Reuters A modified coronavirus vaccine that targets the Omicron variant can be administered as a booster dose to broaden immunity a technical advisory group set up the World Health Organization said on Friday. Such a variantadapted vaccine may benefit those who have already received the primary series of shots the agencys panel on COVID19 Vaccine Composition said citing available data. The vaccines could be considered for use globally by the agency once they get emergency use authorization or an approval by a stringent national regulatory authority. https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/who-panel-backs-use-omicron-adapted-vaccine-booster-dose-2022-06-17/ 18th Jun 2022

Scientific Viewpoint

Reuters People infected with the earliest version of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus first identified in South Africa in November may be vulnerable to reinfection with later versions of Omicron even if they have been vaccinated and boosted new findings suggest. Vaccinated patients with Omicron BA.1 breakthrough infections developed antibodies that could neutralize that virus plus the original SARSCoV2 virus but the Omicron sublineages circulating now have mutations that allow them to evade those antibodies researchers from China reported on Friday in Nature. https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/early-omicron-infection-unlikely-protect-against-current-variants-2022-06-17/ 18th Jun 2022

Scientific Viewpoint

Reuters The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Saturday recommended COVID19 vaccines for children as young as six months allowing a nationwide rollout to start next week. The CDCs move came after a panel of advisers to the institution voted earlier on Saturday to recommend COVID19 vaccines for those children. We know millions of parents and caregivers are eager to get their young children vaccinated and with todays decision they can said Rochelle Walensky the CDC director in a statement. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/covid-vaccine-rollout-us-tots-close-after-cdc-panel-endorsement-2022-06-18/ 18th Jun 2022

Scientific Viewpoint

Reuters The European Medicines Agency EMA started a rolling review on Friday of a variantadapted COVID19 vaccine from Moderna MRNA.O as coronavirus cases linked to Omicron subvariants see an uptick in the region. U.S.based Modernas socalled bivalent vaccine targets two strains of the SARSCoV2 virus behind COVID the original strain first identified in China and the Omicron variant. Last week Moderna said its bivalent vaccine produced a better immune response against Omicron than the original shot. https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/eu-drugs-watchdog-kicks-off-rolling-review-modernas-variant-vaccine-2022-06-17/ 17th Jun 2022

Coronavirus Resurgence

BBC News Covid19 infections in Wales have risen to their highest levels in a month. One in 45 people had Covid in the week ending 11 June according to estimates by the Office for National Statistics ONS. That is 64800 people or 2.13 of the population. Its up from last week when only one in 75 people were estimated to have Covid. The findings are based on a weekly swab survey which took samples from more than 4800 people in Wales. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-61842354 18th Jun 2022

Coronavirus Resurgence

Stuff The Ministry of Health is reporting 4404 new community cases of Covid19 on Saturday 356 hospitalisations and 11 deaths. The sevenday rolling average of community case numbers today is 5154 last Saturday it was 5914. Of the deaths reported on Saturday one was a person in their 40s one was in their 50s five were in their 70s one was in their 80s and three were aged over 90. Four were women and seven were men. https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/coronavirus/129010931/covid19-4404-new-community-cases-356-in-hospital-and-11-deaths 18th Jun 2022

Coronavirus Resurgence

Global News Canada is seeing an increase in several fastspreading COVID19 variants that have been fuelling new outbreaks in the United States and Europe Canadas top doctors said Friday. The BA.4 and BA.5 strains of the virus which are subvariants of Omicron have been detected in Canada since May and the BA.2.12 subvariant has been showing growth in the country since March. On Friday Canadas chief public health officer Dr. Theresa Tam made note of the rise in the number of these cases in the country and said that these subvariants have demonstrated a growth advantage and additional immune escape over Omicron and other strains of the virus. COVID19 has shown us over the past few years that there may be more surprises ahead Tam said during the briefing. https://globalnews.ca/news/8928883/covid-subvariants-summer-surge-phac/ 18th Jun 2022

Coronavirus Resurgence

Belfast Telegraph Three deaths linked to Covid19 have been recorded in Northern Ireland in the latest weekly update. The fatalities in the week ending June 10 take the total number of coronaviruslinked deaths recorded by the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency Nisra to 4643. The figure is drawn from different data sources and is always higher than the Department of Healths total as it provides a broader picture of the impact of Covid19. The departments statistics focus primarily on hospital deaths and include only people who have tested positive for the virus. https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/another-three-deaths-recorded-in-latest-weekly-covid-19-update-41762669.html 18th Jun 2022

Coronavirus Resurgence

The BMJ We are just over five months into 2022 and have already seen two record highs of coronavirus infection in England with population prevalence peaking at 7 in early January omicron BA.1 and 8 in late March omicron BA.2.1 After eight weeks of declining prevalence infections have started to increase again with the rise of yet another set of omicron variants. Instead of just one new variant we currently have four BA.2.12.1 dominant in the US BA.4 and BA.5 dominant in South Africa and BA.5.1 dominant in Portugal. Together these four variants became dominant in England in early June2 and it looks as if BA.5 and BA.5.1 will likely win out to become the overall dominant variants.3 So what does this mean for the shorter and longer term In the short term we will see another wave of infections here likely peaking at the end of Juneearly July. South Africas BA.45 wave has now passed with fewer hospital admissions and deaths than in their BA.1 wave in December. https://www.bmj.com/content/377/bmj.o1504 18th Jun 2022

Coronavirus Resurgence

The National The UAE recorded 1464 new Covid19 cases on Saturday taking the overall tally of infections to 925898. Another 1401 people overcame the virus as the number of recoveries climbed to 906577. Two coronavirusrelated deaths were announced raising the toll to 2308. The number of active cases stands at 17013. The latest cases were identified as a result of 324877 additional PCR tests. More than 166.8 million tests have been conducted to date as part of the countrys mass screening strategy. https://www.thenationalnews.com/uae/health/2022/06/18/uae-records-1464-new-covid-19-cases-and-two-deaths/ 18th Jun 2022

Coronavirus Resurgence

Reuters The city of Beijing on Thursday declared an initial victory in its latest battle with COVID19 after testing millions of people and quarantining thousands in the past week to stem an outbreak prolonged by a sudden wave of cases linked to a bar. The flareup at the popular Heaven Supermarket Bar known for its cheap liquor and rowdy nights emerged just days after the Chinese capital started to lift widespread curbs. Restrictions had been in place for around a month in Beijing to tackle a broader outbreak that began in late April. https://www.reuters.com/world/china/beijing-bar-linked-covid-outbreak-is-easing-measures-take-effect-official-says-2022-06-16/ 18th Jun 2022

Coronavirus Resurgence

Sky News COVID19 cases have surged by nearly half in a week official figures show. Last week an estimated 1415600 people had coronavirus in the UK up 425800 or 43. This is the highest estimate for infections since the start of May but is still well below the record high of 4.9 million at the end of March. Cases rose in all four nations of the UK and increased across all age groups. In England around one in 50 people had the virus according to the coronavirus infection survey by the Office for National Statistics ONS. https://news.sky.com/story/covid-19-infections-rise-by-nearly-half-a-million-in-a-week-12635566 17th Jun 2022