Worldwide COVID news at a glance

More COVID-19 jabs for poorer countries

The World Health Organisation has called for vaccine makers to prioritise deliveries of COVID-19 jabs to the COVAX dose-sharing facility for poorer countries and says no more doses should go to countries with more than 40 per cent coverage. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that boosters should not be administered except to people who are immunocompromised.

Poorer countries have so far received just 0.4 per cent of vaccine stocks but make up 9 per cent of the world population. Dr Tedros said he had heard various excuses as to why this is the case, including that certain countries’ vaccination programs were not ready. However, this was true for only a few countries, he added.

Producers also argue that these countries have not ordered any vaccines – but the WHO chief pointed out that they are relying instead on the COVAX scheme to access them.

Pfizer COVID-19 pill ’89 per cent effective

Pfizer says that a clinical trial of its pill to treat COVID-19 had shown it is highly effective, hailing it as a big step toward ending the pandemic. Pfizer’s is the second anti-COVID pill after that of Merck, which is actually an influenza medicine rebranded to fight the coronavirus. Pfizer’s has been created specifically to fight COVID-19.

The Pfizer drug called Paxlovid achieved an 89 per cent reduction in risk of hospitalisation or death among adult patients with COVID-19 who are at high risk of progressing to severe illness, the US company said Friday. The results from the middle-to-late stage clinical trial were so strong that Pfizer will stop recruiting new people for the trial, it said.

High-risk gene common in South Asians doubles the risk

British scientists have discovered a gene that doubles the risk of respiratory failure and death from COVID-19 and is more common among people of South Asian descent.

According to the Nature Genetics study by scientists at the University of Oxford, 60 per cent of people of South Asian background – compared with 15 per cent of people of European ancestry – carry the high-risk gene called LZTFL1. It could also explain why people of South Asian heritage are more vulnerable to COVID-19.

He said other factors can contribute to a high rate of COVID-19-related health complications in these communities, including travelling on public transport, working in public-facing jobs and living in households with large multigenerational families.

Just 1.7 per cent of PNG residents are vaccinated

Only 1.7 per cent of Papua New Guineans have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19. This has been a cause of concern for the international community, who are watching the virus spread through an exposed population with high rates of co-morbidities and minimal access to healthcare. The mood within the country, however, is very different. No doubt there is abundant fear, but this has centred on the vaccine itself.

Many Papua New Guineans have access to the vaccine, even in some of the remotest corners of the country. They are also fully familiar with injected medicines and vaccinations against diseases like polio and measles. But millions of Papua New Guineans are not getting vaccinated against COVID-19 because they are terrified of this specific vaccine. This is not “vaccine hesitancy”, but full-blown opposition: a genuine antipathy.

Costa Rica children to be mandatory for vaccine 

Costa Rica has become the first country in the world to make Covid-19 vaccinations mandatory for children. The jab will join the extensive list of basic childhood vaccinations already required by law, health officials said.

The country signed a deal with Pfizer to acquire doses to start vaccinating all under-12s from March 2022. Last week, the US health regulatory bodies approved the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine for children aged five to 11.

Most children are unlikely to get seriously ill if they catch Covid-19 but may still be infectious, even with no symptoms. The vaccine could help stop them from spreading the virus to others.

Restrict travel to whom refused boosters in UK

More than 10 million people in the UK have had Covid vaccine top-up shots, figures show, as government sources confirmed they are looking at plans for travel restrictions on people who do not take up the booster offer.

About 30% of over-80s and more than 60% of people aged 50 and over have yet to receive the extra doses, however. In a move that may further drive booster uptake, No 10 sources confirmed that ministers were considering a change in the rules on travel so that eligible people who had turned down a third dose would face quarantine and testing if they went abroad. The change was said not to be imminent.

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