England vaccinates on Christmas Day as Omicron cases soar
LONDON, United Kingdom — England pressed ahead with its Covid-19 immunisation campaign on Saturday in the race to inoculate as many people possible while the number of cases of the Omicron coronavirus variant soars.
At Redbridge Town Hall east of London, National Health Service staff wore Santa hats as they welcomed queues of people and administered jabs, according to an AFP journalist at the scene.
"Merry Christmas" signs were displayed on the walls of the centre's vaccine booths and festive pictures, including one of an elf giving a vaccine to another elf.
"We have inspirational people in the NHS and in local government... who were willing to give up their time, even on Christmas Day, to get our community vaccinated," Mark Santos, a local Redbridge councillor, told AFP.
"Today's a real community spirit."
Redbridge resident Saif Kurshid was one of the many in the queue.
"It was totally unimaginable, unfathomable, by anybody that we could have a Christmas -- or even a whole year -- like this," he said.
NHS England thanked the many who had turned up to help out on Christmas Day.
"From vaccinators to volunteers, porters to paramedics, midwives to mental health practitioners, and all other essential workers -- thank you to everyone who is working over the festive period!" it tweeted.
Health Secretary Sajid Javid urged Britons to "make the booster a part of your Christmas this year".
More than 30 million so-called "booster" or third coronavirus vaccine shots have been administered so far, but Javid said: "We need to go further."
A record 122,186 daily confirmed Covid-19 cases and 137 deaths were reported on Christmas Eve.
Vaccination clinics in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland were closed for Christmas Day.
Pharma giants Sanofi and GSK said on July 29, 2020, that they have agreed to supply Britain with up to 60 million doses of a potential COVID-19 vaccine. The agreement covers a vaccine candidate developed by France's Sanofi in partnership with the UK's GSK and is subject to a "final contract."
This thread collects some of the major developments in the search for a vaccine to ease the new coronavirus pandemic. (Main photo by AFP/Joel Saget)
As negotiations towards a new pandemic treaty pick up pace, observers warn of watered-down efforts to ensure equitable access to the medical products needed to battle future Covid-like threats.
Shaken by the pandemic, the World Health Organization's 194 member states are negotiating an international accord aimed at ensuring countries are better equipped to deal with the next catastrophe, or even prevent it altogether.
The process is still in the early stages, with the aim of reaching an agreement by May 2024.
But critics warn that revisions being made to the preliminary negotiating text are weakening the language -- notably in a key area aimed at preventing the rampant inequity seen in access to vaccines and other medical products during the Covid pandemic.
"I think it is a real step backwards," Suerie Moon, co-director of the Global Health Centre at the Geneva Graduate Institute, told AFP. — AFP
Africa's first mRNA vaccine hub is ceremonially launched on Thursday to acclaim from the UN's global health chief, who hailed it as a historic shift to help poor countries gain access to life-saving jabs.
The facility was set up in the South African city of Cape Town in 2021 on the back of the success of revolutionary anti-Covid vaccines introduced by Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna.
"This precious project... will bring a paradigm shift in addressing the serious problem we faced, the equity problem, during the pandemic, so (that) it's not repeated again," World Health Organization (WHO) head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus tells a media briefing to mark the inauguration. — AFP
China has approved its first locally developed messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccine against Covid-19, its manufacturer said Wednesday, months after the relaxation of strict Covid-zero regulations sparked a surge in cases.
The vaccine, developed by CSPC Pharmaceutical Group Ltd, has been approved for "emergency use" by Beijing's health regulator, the company said in a statement.
It showed high efficacy in a trial in which it was used as a booster shot for people who have been given other types of vaccines, the company added, without offering further details. — AFP
COVID-19 vaccine maker Novavax raises doubts about its ability to continue its business, announcing plans to cut spending after struggles in rolling out its coronavirus jab.
Shares of Novavax plummeted 25 percent in extended trading, after the company reported fourth-quarter earnings that missed analyst estimates.
While the firm should have enough money to fund operations, the situation is "subject to significant uncertainty," it says in a statement. — AFP
The protection against Covid-19 from being previously infected lasts at least as long as that offered by vaccination, one of the largest studies conducted on the subject says.
Ten months after getting Covid, people still had an 88% lower risk of reinfection, hospitalisation and death, according to the study published in the Lancet journal.
That makes this natural immunity "at least as durable, if not more so" than two doses of Pfizer or Moderna's vaccines, the study says.
The authors nevertheless emphasized that their findings should not discourage vaccination, which remains the safest way to get immunity. — AFP
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