Worldwide COVID news at a glance

1  COVAX scheme falling short of target

The World Health Organisation’s COVID vaccine sharing scheme has fallen well short of its initial target. The COVAX scheme has aimed to deliver two billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines by the end of 2021, mostly to developing countries. With less than two months until the end of the year, about only a quarter of that target number have been shipped.

COVAX suffered delivery delays in the first half of the year, largely due to the Delta variant outbreak across India, with the Indian government stopping exports from their vaccine manufacturers. COVAX was relying on the Indian produced vaccines for most of its promised supply. The program has also seen generous pledges from developed countries, but a slow uptake on actually delivering the doses, including from Australia. 

2  Denmark brought back restrictions

Denmark became one of the first nations in Europe to lift all domestic COVID-19 restrictions on 10 September when 80 per cent of the population aged 12 and above had been fully vaccinated. 

After declaring COVID-19 as an illness that is no longer a “critical threat to society”, the Danish government is now bringing back restrictions less than two months after they were scrapped. The country announced on Monday it will re-introduce a health pass because of the sharp rise in COVID-19 infections, Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said.

3  Austria nationwide lockdown for unvaccinated

Austria has begun a lockdown for people not vaccinated against COVID-19, a first in the European Union as the country fights a record surge in cases. About 65 per cent of Austria’s almost nine million people are vaccinated, below the EU average of 67 per cent, while daily increases in infections have hit records this week.

Other European governments are also eyeing unpopular COVID-19 curbs, with the Netherlands opting for Western Europe’s first partial lockdown of the winter. Austria’s lockdown means people over 12 who are neither vaccinated nor recently recovered will not be allowed to leave the house except for reasons such as buying essential supplies, exercise or seeking medical care.

4  No more free treatment to unvaccinated Singaporean

The Singaporean government has announced that it will no longer cover the costs of COVID-19 treatment for people who choose not to get a vaccine. From 8 December, COVID-19 patients who are “unvaccinated by choice” will need to pay for the care they receive at hospitals and treatment facilities.

Free treatment is currently available to Singaporeans, permanent residents, and long-term pass holders unless they test positive shortly after returning from overseas. The measure was introduced “to avoid financial considerations adding to public uncertainty and concern when COVID-19 was an emergent and unfamiliar disease,” Singapore’s Ministry of Health said in a statement on Monday.

5  South Korea’s booster shots push

In South Korea, citizens were urged to take a COVID-19 booster shot on Wednesday, as more of the elderly fell ill and reported vaccine breakthrough infections, driving serious and critical cases to a record.

Severe coronavirus cases jumped from the mid-300s in October to 460 on Wednesday, official data showed. Of the severely ill patients, more than 82 per cent were aged 60 and older. But it has steadily risen in recent weeks, led by the elderly, as vaccine protection wanes over time and the group’s weaker immune system makes them more vulnerable to infections.

6  UK firm to trial T-cell vaccine

An Oxfordshire-based company will soon start clinical trials of a second-generation vaccine against Covid-19, an easy-to-administer skin patch that uses T-cells to kill infected cells and could offer longer-lasting immunity than current vaccines.

The vaccines prime T-cells to remove infected cells from the body quickly after infection, thus preventing viral replication and disease. While the antibodies produced by the current Covid vaccines stick to the virus and stop it infecting cells, T-cells find and destroy infected cells. Those other vaccines, such as the Pfizer/BioNTech and the AstraZeneca/Oxford University jabs, also produce a T-cell response, but to a lesser extent.