The Federal Office for Safety in Health Care (BASG) said a 49-year-old woman died as a result of severe coagulation disorders – conditions that affect the blood’s clotting activities – and a 35-year-old woman developed a pulmonary embolism – a blockage in one of the pulmonary arteries in your lungs and, in most cases, is caused by blood clot. She is now recovering. Local news outlets reported that the women were both nurses who worked at the Zwettl clinic.“Currently there is no evidence of a causal relationship with the vaccination,” BASG said.A pulmonary embolism is a blockage in one of the pulmonary arteries in your lungs and, in most cases, is caused by blood clot.BASG said blood clotting was not among the known side effects of the vaccine. It was investigating to rule out any possible link.“As a precautionary measure, the remaining stocks of the affected vaccine batch are no longer being issued or vaccinated,” BASG added.An AstraZeneca spokesman said: “There have been no confirmed serious adverse events associated with the vaccine,” adding that all batches are subject to strict and rigorous quality controls.NEW VIRUS FEARS EMERGE IN USInfection numbers in the US have plateaued at higher levels after weeks of declines, suggesting another surge is on the way in the wake of a relaxation of restrictions.The US has averaged more than 60,000 coronavirus cases daily in the past week. More than 41,000 people remain hospitalised with the virus nationwide, according to the COVID Tracking Project. An average of more than 1700 US COVID-19 deaths have been reported every day for the past seven days.More than 2700 cases of coronavirus variants first spotted in the UK, South Africa and Brazil have been reported in the US, according to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention — but the agency has warned that those are just cases spotted with the help of genomic sequencing. The real figure could be much higher.The vast majority of these cases are the more contagious variant known as B.1.1.7, first spotted in the UK. The variant has been found in 46 states, plus Puerto Rico and Washington, DC.“That strain is increasing exponentially, it’s spiking up,” infectious diseases specialist and epidemiologist Dr. Celine Gounder told CNN. “So we are probably right now on a tipping point of another surge.”Medical experts have repeatedly warned that now is the time to double down on measures that work to kerb the spread of the virus rather than lift COVID-19 restrictions, which numerous states are doing.“There are so many reasons why you don’t want to pull back just now,” Dr. Anthony Fauci told CNN. “Not at a time when we have circulating variants and when you have what looks like a plateauing of the decline in the cases.”Despite health leaders’ warnings, several states have announced they were easing COVID-19 restrictions.Texas is lifting the statewide mask mandate and doing away with any capacity limits on businesses, beginning March 10.Mississippi is also lifting all mask mandates and will allow businesses to operate at full capacity without state-imposed rules.Ohio has announced revisions to public health orders, including dropping a 300-person limit for events at banquet centres. Meanwhile, Michigan will ease restrictions, including expanded capacity for restaurants, retail, gyms, stadiums and other facilities.Louisiana also loosened restrictions. The majority of businesses — including restaurants and salons — are now allowed to operate at 75 per cent capacity, while religious services no longer have capacity limits.Arizona is lifting occupancy limits on businesses — including restaurants, gyms and theatres, and a similar announcement came from West Virginia. South Carolina has rescinded the face covering requirements in state government offices, buildings and facilities as well as in restaurants.Meanwhile in California, all of the state’s amusement parks, including Disneyland, Magic Mountain and Universal Studios along with sports and concert venues will be allowed to reopen with limited capacity starting 1 April.While more than 57.3 million Americans have received at least their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, and more than 29.7 million have received two doses, that’s only approximately 9 per cent of the US population.On Sunday local time, an ABC News poll indicated more than 50 per cent of Americans think the lifting of restrictions is happening too quickly.COVID-19 World NumbersAUCKLAND ENDS HARD LOCKDOWNAuckland has ended its week-long hard lockdown, as the New Zealand Ministry of Health revealed an Air New Zealand crew member had tested positive to COVID-19.Health officials revealed the crew member returned to New Zealand from Japan on February 28 and returned a negative COVID-19 result.“The person then subsequently returned a positive test result today after a swab taken yesterday as part of routine surveillance testing,” the ministry said in a statement.“The person has today moved to Auckland’s quarantine facility. The individual’s three household family members have already been tested today and the results are all negative.Fourteen other aircrew on the same journey as the latest case are in the process of being contacted, isolated and retested.”The ministry says initial assessment suggests there is low risk to the public due to Auckland being at Alert Level 3 for the period in which this case was back in New Zealand and was either in isolation or at home for most of that timeNew Zealand’s largest city was sent into a strict seven day lockdown a week ago to combat a community cluster of the more contagious UK coronavirus variant of COVID-19.There were no new local COVID-19 cases recorded in Auckland on Sunday.The Auckland region has moved to Alert Level 2 and will remain there until March 14. This alert level will allow people to go to school and work, travel between regions, and attend gatherings of up to 100 people.The remainder of New Zealand is now at Alert Level 1. Wearing masks on domestic flights and all public transport still applies at Level 1. NEW STUMBLING BLOCK TO VACCINE ROLLOUTSand is running out across the world amid fears there may not be enough to make two billion COVID jab glass vials, experts warn. Before the pandemic, there was already a shortage of sand which is the most consumed raw material after water.The construction industry alone uses up to 50 billion tons of sand a year which is used to make brick glass, concrete, asphalt while the tech industry used it in making laptops and smartphones. But there are not enough sand mines to keep with the demand and the shortage is set to delay the production of the billions of glass vials needed to vaccinate the world.There are only 1,000 mines in the US, The Sun reports.Pascal Peduzzi, a climate scientist with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), said raised his concerns during a webinar hosted by think tank Chatham House, CNBC reported.He said: “We just think that sand is everywhere.“We never thought we would run out of sand, but it is starting in some places.“It is about anticipating what can happen in the next decade or so because if we don’t look forward, if we don’t anticipate, we will have massive problems about sand supply but also about land planning.”According to the UNEP, about 40 to 50 billion metric tons of sand is used each year in the construction industry alone.This is a 300 per cent increase from just 20 years ago, and it would take every river on the planet two years to replace it.Even though deserts make up a third of the planet, desert sand is too smooth and round for use in construction, tech, or making glass.Mining is now done in rivers, coastlines and seabeds in places like India and China where whole ecosystems are being destroyed.The medical-glass industry was just beginning to catch up with demand in 2020, but the pandemic and subsequent vaccine rollout have thwarted this.Stevanato Group, an Italian manufacturer of vials, told Pharma Manufacturing global demand for vials will rise by as much as two billion over the next two years.Even if the vaccine is loaded into 10-dose vials, vaccine expert James Robinson said that are still hundreds of millions of vials needed for this pandemic alone.International Vaccine EffortsISRAEL ‘COMING BACK TO LIFE’Israel took another step towards post-pandemic normalcy on Sunday, opening restaurants, bars and cafes to vaccinated “green pass” holders, with about 40 per cent of the population fully inoculated against the coronavirus.“We are coming to life,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared, as he cut into a pastry at a Jerusalem cafe, according to a video posted on Facebook.Israel, which launched its vaccination campaign in December, has given the recommended two jabs of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine to more than 3.7 million of its roughly nine million people.Nearly five million have received one shot.The country launched its green pass program last month, allowing controlled numbers of people with proof of full vaccination — or those who had recovered from COVID-19 — to enter gyms, pools and other facilities.But Sunday’s slate of re-openings has been highly anticipated, as it marks the restoration of services that touch the daily lives of many Israelis.Restaurants are now permitted to resume indoor dining up to 75 per cent capacity, with a cap of 100 people and with tables two metres apart.Green pass holders can also now have a drink at a bar — but cannot yet strike up a chat with a stranger sitting on the stool beside them, with rules requiring an empty seat between patrons, unless they live together.Eating and drinking on terraces does not require a green pass. Large numbers of students, many of whom have been out of classrooms for months, will also start returning to school this week, while hotel event halls, sport venues and places of worship are reopening to green pass holders, with capacity limits in place.Israelis stranded abroad amid a weeks-long airport closure will also be allowed to return home in increasing numbers this week, beginning with 1,000 arrivals permitted on Sunday.Mr Netanyahu, who faces a tough re-election battle in two weeks, has put Israel’s robust vaccination drive at the centre of his campaign.He wants Israel’s entire over-16 population vaccinated by the end of this month, hoping the economy will be almost fully re-opened in time for the Passover holiday, which begins on March 27.While Israel’s vaccination pace remains among the world’s fastest, the Jewish state has faced widespread calls, including from the United Nations, to ensure inoculations of Palestinians living under occupation in the West Bank, and those in Israeli-blockaded Gaza.Netanyahu’s government has announced plans to vaccinate 100,000 Palestinians with permits to work in Israel.COVID EXPERTS WANT SECOND CHINA INVESTIGATIONInternational virus experts are demanding another investigation into the source of COVID-19, amid concerns China had too much control over the last.In an open letter, academics from across the globe, including the Australian National University, called for an “unrestricted international forensic investigation”.The group said despite previous studies, we are no further in finding the answers needed to determine the origin of the virus.“Finding the origins of SARS-CoV-2 is critically important to both better addressing the current pandemic and reducing the risks of future one” the letter reads. “Unfortunately, well over a year after the initial outbreak, the origins of the pandemic remain unknown.”In January, a team of scientists chosen by the World Health Organisation visited hospitals and research institutes in Wuhan, the virus epicentre, in search of clues.But the previous venture has been criticised by the group behind the letter. They said there were several “structural limitations” built into the endeavour.“We wish to raise public awareness of the fact that half of the joint team convened under that process is made of Chinese citizens whose scientific independence may be limited, that international members of the joint team had to rely on information the Chinese authorities chose to share with them, and that any joint team report must be approved by both the Chinese and international members of the joint team,” the group wrote in the letter.They argued the team didn’t have the independence or necessary access to carry out a full investigation. In the letter, the group provided a list of requirements that should be met for a proper inquiry. This includes being carried out by an independent team so there’s no conflict of interest or “partial control by any specific agenda or country”.They also want the team to be made of experts from various fields, from virologists to wildlife experts, and have full access to records and sites, including the wet markets at Wuhan.“We recognise that as an international agency that must rely on the collaboration of its member states, the World Health Organisation is limited in what it can achieve in this type of investigation,” the group said.“It is not our intention to undermine the WHO, which is working under challenging circumstances at a time of tremendous global need.”Earlier experts questioned the purpose of WHO’s mission which wrapped up in mid-February after scientists spent 28 days on the ground.“It hasn‘t really given us new information,” Peter Collignon, a pathologist at ANU who has previously worked on WHO research projects, told ABC News at the time.“I know some of those experts and I think they’re very good but they’re limited to the information they’re given, and there was a real hesitation in even letting them come.”The most politically charged theory, that the virus leaked from a research lab, was deemed too unlikely by initial research team.Instead they referred to the original theory, that it was transmitted from bats, or another animal, to humans.The small group of scientists behind the letter hinted at the idea that this is unlikely. FRANCE THREATENS TO STOP AUSSIE VACCINE SUPPLYFrance is threatening to follow Italy’s lead and block COVID-19 vaccines to Australia.French health Minister Olivier Véran said he “understood” the Italian government’s decision and indicated that France “could do the same”.“Believe me, the more doses I have, the happier I am as a health Minister,” Mr Véran said in an interview with French TV station BFMTV.He added that France and the rest of the EU are determined to have their contacts with drug makers enforced.The European Union defended Italy’s decision to stop a large shipment of vaccines destined for Australia, saying the decision was not targeting Australia but that it was done to ensure its member countries had enough doses as per its agreement with the drug company.WHO COVID REPORT COMING It comes as the international investigation into the COVID-19 pandemic’s origins in China will publish its report in the week of March 15, the World Health Organisation’s chief has said.The report was originally due to be published in two stages: an initial summary in February followed by the full text. However, they will both now be released at the same time, said WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.“I know that many member states are eager to see the report of the joint WHO-led study on the origins of the SARS-CoV-2 virus – and of course so am I,” he said in a speech to the UN health agency’s member countries.“The team is working on its final report as well as an accompanying summary report, which we understand will be issued simultaneously in the week of the 15th of March.”“Rest assured that when the reports are ready, we will ask the expert team to share the reports with member states ahead of their release, and to brief you on the findings.” The first COVID-19 cases were reported in the Chinese city of Wuhan in December 2019.The international investigation in the city only began in January 2021 and wrapped up last month.A team of international scientific experts spent four weeks in Wuhan visiting sites linked to early cases.Experts believe the disease originated in bats and could have been transmitted to humans via another mammal.Although the mission to Wuhan failed to identify the source of the virus, the experts were dismissive of the theory that it leaked from a virology laboratory in the city at a press conference before leaving China.However, when the team leadership returned to Geneva, Tedros said that, “all hypotheses remain open”.WHY ITALY BANNED AUSTRALIA Australian Trade Minister Dan Tehan and the EU’s top trade official Valdis Dombrovskis spoke on Friday, as Canberra digested the news that Italy banned a shipment of AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccines to Australia.A European Commission spokeswoman said the video call was previously scheduled but “they did discuss the export authorisation mechanism” under which Italy acted.The call came a day after Rome, with the commission’s approval, blocked the export of 250,700 doses of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine meant for Australia.Italy explained the ban as necessary due to a shortage of vaccines in virus-hit Europe and the lack of urgent need in relatively virus-free Australia.Australia’s government said the absence of that one shipment would not affect its rollout of the AstraZeneca vaccine that started on Friday, though Prime Minister Scott Morrison said he would ask Brussels to review the decision.The commission spokeswoman told journalists that Mr Dombrovskis explained to Mr Tehan the EU’s approach to vetting exports of doses of vaccines it has approved for use in the bloc.“He also reassured that for those companies that are honouring their contract arrangement with the EU, there is no issue with the authorisations, including with Australia,” she said.Under the EU scheme, a company wanting to export doses out of the bloc needs to apply to the member state government to do so, which then turns to the commission to approve or deny its recommendation.The Italian decision was the first time the mechanism was used to ban a shipment since it started operating at the end of January.The European Commission has engaged in a public row with AstraZeneca over the company’s failure to supply all the vaccine doses it promised the EU in the first three months of this year.The Anglo-Swedish company is on track to provide only around 40 per cent of the contracted doses to the EU, even as it fulfils its full deliveries to Britain, a former EU member.The commission spokeswoman, Miriam Garcia Ferrer, said that between January 30 and March 1 the EU had approved 574 vaccine exports requests to 30 countries including Australia.A commission spokesman, Eric Mamer, said the EU expects companies that have supplied vaccine deals with Brussels “to do their utmost to comply with the contracts with delivery contracts that they have with the member states”.EU SHIPMENT BAN WON’T AFFECT AUSTRALIAN VACCINE ROLLOUTItaly on Thursday local time launched a COVID vaccine war, refusing to release an Australian shipment of 250,000 doses of the Oxford AstraZeneca jab.But the Morrison Government insists it won’t affect the rollout of the coronavirus vaccine in Australia.A spokesman for Health Minister Greg Hunt said: “This is one shipment from one country”. “The AstraZeneca Roll out begins today in Murray Bridge South Australia,” Hunt’s spokesman said.“The first International shipment already arrived which takes us through to the commencement of domestic CSL supplies. “This shipment was not factored into our distribution plan for coming weeks.”CSL’s Australian manufacturing would deliver one million doses per week by the end of the month, Mr Hunt’s office said.Meantime, the drastic move from Italy came as it and most of Europe is still struggling with a major shortage of vaccines following a disastrous procurement process. The European Union voted to buy all vaccines as a bloc, but bet heavily on French vaccines that failed. Italy has vaccinated just under 5 million of its 60 million people, but has been struggling with delays in supplies from AstraZeneca following problems at its Belgian plant.Now, Italian officials have taken the drastic move of banning supplies leaving Europe.The London Financial Times reported on Thursday afternoon local time that Italy had become the first country to ban exports of vaccines under new rules that were introduced to hoard medical supplies.The European Commission had the power to veto Italy’s ban, but Brussels officials allowed the shipment to be stopped.Ursula von der Leyen, the boss of the European Union’s vaccine rollout, had warned last week that EU countries would block exports if AstraZeneca did not increase supplies.“If companies don’t fulfil their contractual obligations, yet do export, the commission may decide to make a move under the export regimen,” she said.The vaccine roll out in Europe has been an embarrassment, with Britain streets ahead in its vaccination program with more than 20 million doses delivered.British politicians have claimed that they were able to supercharge the vaccine program because they were free of EU rules after Brexit.Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been quiet on the amount of Oxford and Pfizer vaccinations stockpiled for the UK’s use.However, there were plans to scale up to 5 million doses per week, double the current rate of the program, in the coming weeks. Comment was being sought from the Australian Government.- with Erin Lyons/NewsWire and AFP
Powered by WPeMatico
