But in a full paper due to be published today, AstraZeneca said that none of the 2,000 participants developed serious symptoms.That could mean it will still have an effect on severe illness, although not yet enough data is available to make a definitive judgment.Lagging behind in the global vaccination race, South Africa received its first delivery of a million doses on Monday.An additional 500,000 doses are expected this month.Australia’s Health Minister Greg Hunt said he still has confidence in the AstraZeneca vaccine despite new data showing it may not protect people against the mutated South African strain.“I spoke with the UK Health Secretary in recent days… they’re having very strong results,” Mr Hunt said on Monday.“In terms of particular variants, particular countries, the world is learning about those with all vaccines.
“What we’re seeing is very significant results from the vaccines that have been approved, with up to a hundred per cent protection on the early data that we’ve seen in the clinical trial results for serious illness and hospitalisation.”Mr Hunt said he still expected the Australian COVID-19 vaccine rollout to begin in the next three weeks.“Late February for Pfizer, early March for AstraZeneca,” Mr Hunt said. “We’re on track to complete the vaccination programme for Australia by the end of October. “
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AstraZeneca vaccines produced by the Serum Institute of India and some 1.2 million health workers are to be first in line for the shots.“In the next four weeks, we will have the J&J and Pfizer,” said Mkhize, referring to vaccines made by Johnson & Johnson and Pfizer/BioNTech.Discussions with other vaccine producers are also ongoing, particularly Moderna and the makers of the Russian Sputnik V jab.
Mkhize recently announced having reserved 20 million Pfizer/BioNTech doses. The 1.5 million AstraZeneca vaccines obtained by South Africa, which will expire in April, will be kept until scientists give clear indications on their use, he said.“The second generation of the vaccine to fight all variants will take longer to produce,” said Salim Abdool Karim, epidemiologist and co-chair of the scientific committee at the South African health ministry.South Africa plans to vaccinate at least 67 per cent of its population by the end of the year, or around 40 million people.The country has recorded more than 1.5 million infections and over 46,000 deaths from the virus.‘THIS IS DETECTIVE WORK’World Health Organisation experts have refused to rule out claims coronavirus escaped from a laboratory in the Chinese city of Wuhan.Special envoy for the WHO’s COVID response Dr David Nabarro said “all options are on the table” as part of its investigation.“All the sites that WHO people wanted to visit are being visited. There is an openness for all kinds of communication to take place. But it’s early days, this is detective work.“We’re anticipating this will take quite a lot longer,” Dr Nabarro said.
The Sun reported that when he was asked about speculation the virus leaked from the Wuhan lab, Dr Nabarro replied: “The thing about theories is you have to have them as a way to set up the reason why things might be occurring in a particular way.“I can’t rule anything out.”
“I know the team on the spot, as well as those they’re talking to in China, they’re not ruling anything out either.“All options are on the table and everything will be looked at.”US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has claimed America has evidence the virus originated in the secretive Wuhan Institute of Virology, where scientists were studying coronaviruses in bats.
Meanwhile, the WHO team investigating the origin of the virus has also probed a wet market in Wuhan which has been linked to the virus outbreak.Zoologist Peter Daszak revealed the 14-member group had worked with experts in China and visited key hot spots and research centres to uncover “some real clues about what happened”.While the food market was shuttered almost immediately after the first cases were recognised, “it’s still pretty intact,” he said.“People left in a hurry and they left equipment, they left utensils, they left evidence of what was going on, and that’s what we looked at.”
“We are still piecing together evidence, so we are looking at the animal evidence, what was sold on the market and where did it come from, what types of animals are they.”Dr Daszak told CNN his team had submitted a list of places to visit and people to speak to, receiving no opposition from the Chinese authorities.
“We are not running rogue here, we are talking to our hosts. We are in a foreign country, we are guests of China right now,” Dr Daszak said.“This is a good, collaborative, scientific approach to understanding more about the origins of COVID.”
The Sun said Dr Daszak and his team had finished site visits and would trawl through data before presenting a summary of their findings.COVID-19 PANDEMIC ‘COULD LAST YEARS’The world will continue to wrestle with the COVID-19 pandemic for most of this decade, according to a new report.Based on current vaccination distribution rates, the virus will be part of life until the late 2020s.Bloomberg calculates that it will be at least seven years until the pandemic is over worldwide.The media outlet said it built the “biggest database” of COVID-19 inoculations given across the globe, according to the New York Post.The news came as the US reported more than 5000 deaths in a single day for the first time as America deployed troops to deliver vaccines.
The nation also braced for a new spike in virus cases and deaths as Americans gathered for the Super Bowl weekend.After looking at the numbers, Bloomberg concluded it could take most of a decade to reach herd immunity if distribution doesn’t ramp up for two-dose vaccines.
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America’s high-profile COVID expert Dr Anthony Fauci has said 70-85 per cent of the population will need the vaccine in order to achieve herd immunity.While the US is on track to reach that goal by 2022, it could take countries like Canada a decade at their current pace. More than 119 million doses have been distributed worldwide but Bloomberg’s tracker shows some countries, mostly rich, Western nations, are reaching 75 per cent coverage much faster than others.
For example, Israel is on track to see 75 per cent coverage by the northern spring but it could take Portugal four years, China seven years and Latvia almost nine years to reach herd immunity if vaccine distributions don’t change. The calculations are said to be “volatile,” Bloomberg explained, especially with a rollout that’s just a few months old and still marred with supply disruptions. Canada’s vaccination rate was cut in half recently after the country faced delays in shipments but as long as their contracts to buy more doses per person than any other country moves forward, they won’t be stuck in pandemic hell for a decade. The outlet noted the pace is expected to accelerate worldwide as more and more jabs become available — they pointed to major vaccine-manufacturing hubs in India and Mexico and said production is just getting started and only a third of countries have started vaccine campaigns.
Bloomberg’s calculator is based on two doses for full vaccination and will be adjusted when the one-dose Johnson & Johnson jab is released widely.While the inoculations haven’t been approved for children, Bloomberg included the younger set in their calculation because they can be infected and transmit the pathogen. The calculator does not take note of any natural immunity that might be afforded to people who have already had the virus because the CDC has said some immunity is offered after an infection but they’re not sure how long it lasts. A study by Mount Sinai published last week in the preprint server MedRxiv found reinfection is “common” among young people, especially those who had very mild cases or no symptoms at all when they had the bug. The researchers involved urged governments to include young, previously infected people in vaccine distribution.Another study published this week suggested those who’ve had the virus may only need one dose of the vaccine.
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