(Bloomberg) — The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Friday is expected to authorize the vaccine from Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE for children ages 5 to 11, according to two people familiar with the process, in a long-awaited pandemic milestone that opens a new phase of the immunization campaign.
Connecticut and New York were among 10 U.S. states with the biggest declines in new cases during the week through Wednesday, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data published Friday. Infections in the U.S. northwest continue rising.
Russia suffered its deadliest September since World War II. Denmark, which has one of the highest vaccination rates in the world, will more than double its testing capacity after the number of virus infections jumped in recent weeks.
Key Developments:
- Virus Tracker: Cases approach 245.8 million; deaths surpass 4.98 million
- Vaccine Tracker: More than 6.96 billion shots given
- Shots for younger kids need doctors’ push to sway leery parents
- Fake vaccine cards pose enforcement challenge as mandates rise
- U.S. moms working at home were more likely to quit in pandemic
- How Covid is changing the world for immigrants
Harris to Get Booster (1:49 p.m. NY)
Vice President Kamala Harris will receive her Moderna vaccine booster on Saturday, a White House spokesperson said. Harris, 57, is required to travel frequently and is considered at increased risk of exposure due to her job, an official said.
Vaccines Protect More Than Earlier Infection (1:05 p.m. NY)
A new study offers more evidence that Covid-19 vaccines provide stronger protection against hospitalization than immunity from an earlier infection, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday.
Hospitalized patients who weren’t vaccinated but had been previously infected with Covid were about five times more likely to test positive for the infection than people who had been vaccinated, according to the CDC study.
FDA Expected to Back Kids’ Vaccines Friday (12:35 a.m. NY)
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Friday is expected to authorize the Covid-19 vaccine from Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE for children ages 5 to 11, according to two people familiar with the process, in a long-awaited pandemic milestone that opens a new phase of the immunization campaign.
The emergency authorization would bring the U.S. one step closer to shots being administered at schools, pediatricians’ offices and pharmacies around the U.S. The formulation for young kids is one-third the dose of the adult shot.
FDA clearance means doses can start shipping, and dosing could begin once the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issues its recommendations. The CDC’s advisory panel is meeting Nov. 2-3.
Firefighter Dismissed for Refusing Testing (12:11 p.m. NY)
A veteran firefighter in Oklahoma City has been dismissed for refusing to submit to Covid-19 testing protocols after members of his team were infected, the Oklahoman newspaper reported.
Corporal Jerimiah Hoffstatter, a nine-year veteran, was cited for gross insubordination, the newspaper reported. He was a member of a special team sent to Louisiana to assist with hurricane relief, the newspaper said.
An Oklahoma City Fire Department statement said: “Required testing of Oklahoma Task Force 1 members upon return to Oklahoma City revealed three Oklahoma City Fire Department personnel had contracted Covid while deployed.”
Russia’s Deadliest Month Since World War (12:06 p.m. NY)
Russia suffered its deadliest September since World War II, according to figures published Friday, even before the peak of its current wave of the Covid-19 pandemic forced authorities to order non-working days for the first week of November.
There were 44,265 deaths associated with the virus last month, bringing the pandemic’s total to nearly half a million, according to Federal Statistics Service data published late Friday. That contributed to the highest number of September fatalities since the war, said Alexei Raksha, a demographer who left the agency last year after a dispute over its coronavirus numbers.
N.Y., Connecticut Cases Slow More Than Most (11:29 a.m. NY)
Connecticut and New York were among 10 U.S. states with the biggest declines in new cases during the week through Wednesday, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data published Friday.
Infections in Connecticut fell by 35%, the third-biggest decline after New Hampshire and Oklahoma. New York reported a 20% drop, tied with Florida and Virginia for 10th place. Alabama, Utah and New Mexico led 17 states with rising trends.
The report shows cases increasing the most in the U.S. northwest, in a group comprising Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, the Dakotas and Utah, while declining in almost every part of the nation.
Air Canada Calls Back Remote Workers (11:04 a.m. NY)
Air Canada said employees working remotely must gradually return to the office starting Nov. 15 and be fully vaccinated, as Covid-19 cases ebb across Canada.
The country’s biggest airline described its plan on Friday as “a balanced approach” that allows employees to keep working some “set days” remotely. In a statement, Chief Executive Officer Michael Rousseau cited Canada’s high vaccination rate as part of the company’s rationale for bringing workers back.
Denmark Boosts Testing as Cases Rise (10:46 a.m. NY)
Denmark, which has one of the highest vaccination rates in the world, will more than double its testing capacity after the number of virus infections has jumped in recent weeks.
Denmark will increase PCR tests to about 150,000 a day from currently 100,000 and will also re-introduce private quick-test facilities, which will be able handle about 100,000 tests daily, health authorities said in a statement on Friday.
Oramed to Run South Africa Oral Vaccine Trial (7:25 a.m. NY)
Oramed Pharmaceuticals Inc. won approval to run an initial clinical trial for its orally delivered Covid-19 vaccine candidate in South Africa.
The U.S.-listed company has been given permission by the South African Health Regulatory Products Authority to start enrolling patients in Phase 1 of tests, it said in a statement on Friday.
EU Urges Lifting Argentina, Colombia Curbs (6:52 a.m. NY)
The European Union recommended lifting any remaining travel restrictions on Argentina, Colombia, Namibia and Peru. The EU can only advise its member states; it has no actual power over limiting access to its territory.
German Minister Calls for Vaccine Boosters (5:24 p.m. HK)
Vaccine boosters will help prevent hospitals from being overwhelmed, German Health Minister Jens Spahn said.
“Everyone who gets a booster, who discusses it with his doctor, is doing his bit to help us get through the winter safely,” Spahn said in an interview with RBB Inforadio on Friday.
The 41-year-old minister, who was eligible for a booster because he was originally immunized with AstraZeneca Plc’s shot, got a third shot himself yesterday. Germany’s infection rate is at its highest since May.
The health ministry is calling for third shots for everybody over age 60, plus for carers and health-care workers, those with pre-existing conditions and younger people who got the AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson shots.
Indonesia to Quicken Vaccination Pace (5:09 p.m. HK)
Indonesia will accelerate its vaccination pace to 2.1 million doses per day by December from 1.7 million in October, Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto said in a statement on Friday.
South Africa Offers Booster to Health Workers (2:10 p.m. HK)
South Africa’s government will offer booster Covid-19 shots to health workers next month and is planning incentives to improve vaccination rates.
Boosters will be offered to almost 500,000 people who received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine as part of a trial earlier this year, Health Department Deputy Director-General Nicholas Crisp said by phone on Friday.
Meanwhile, the government also plans to offer 100 rand ($7) of grocery vouchers to people over the age of 60 who go and get vaccinated for the first time.
Almost Everyone in Delhi May Have Antibodies (1:20 p.m. HK)
As many as 97% of the residents of Indian capital Delhi have antibodies against Covid-19 because of prior infection or because they’ve been vaccinated, according to a survey conducted in September.
It’s the first such study after a second wave of infections in April and May overwhelmed hospitals and crematoriums and made India the world’s second-worst affected nation after the U.S.
India has administered more than a billion shots but only about 34% of its adult population is fully inoculated. On Wednesday, the federal Health Ministry said a door-to-door vaccination campaign will start in districts with low levels of inoculation.
Uganda to End Controls After Almost 2 Years (1:17 p.m. HK)
Uganda will fully reopen its economy in January after almost two years of controls, President Yoweri Museveni said.
The East African country expects to have vaccinated 12 million of the targeted 21 million people by the end of December, Museveni said in a televised address. “Now that the vaccines are available the economy will be opened in January,” he said. Uganda has received more than 9.5 million doses of mainly AstraZeneca, Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson vaccines and expects more by year-end, he said.
Schools, bars and entertainment centers have been closed since the virus was first detected in the country in March 2020 and a dusk-to-dawn curfew been enforced.
China Stops Two Bullet Trains as Cases Expand (1:05 p.m. HK)
Two high-speed trains that departed from eastern China were intercepted on their way to Beijing on Thursday after one attendant on each of the trains were found to be a close contact of Covid patients. A total of 346 passengers and staff aboard the two trains would be subject to quarantine under the nation’s Covid rules.
China reported 51 new local infections on Friday, with cases now found in nearly half of the 31 provinces on the mainland. Heihe, a town that borders Russia in northeastern China, found nine more cases after four infections detected earlier this week prompted a lockdown of the city of 1.58 million people.
Most new infections are still being found in Inner Mongolia and Gansu located in northwestern China, where authorities also locked down two cities. Beijing reported two more cases as the Chinese capital struggles to disrupt community transmission set off by residents returning from the northwestern virus hotspot.
Singapore Turns F1 Venue Into Covid Ward: ST (9:26 a.m. HK)
Singapore’s F1 pit building, normally used for the high-profile Grand Prix motor races that have been canceled a second year running due to the pandemic, is being converted into a medical facility for coronavirus patients, the Straits Times reported.
The city-state has been grappling with daily case numbers in the thousands and increased deaths as it tries to pivot from a zero-Covid policy. The government is expanding capacity at intensive care units in public hospitals as the number of available beds has declined.
Singapore recorded a total of 3,432 new cases as of noon on Oct. 28, including nine imported infections, down from a record 5,324 cases the day before.
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