COVID-19 vaccine
US donates another 6.2m Covid jabs to Bangladesh
The United States has donated another 6.2 million (62 lakh) doses of Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine to Bangladesh to help expand the vaccination coverage among the youth and hard-to-reach communities.
These latest donations via the COVAX initiative bring the total US government vaccine contribution to more than 51 million (5.1 crore) doses, with many millions more scheduled to arrive in the coming months.
“We applaud the government of Bangladesh for recently surpassing the milestone of reaching 100 million people with at least one dose of the Covid-19 vaccine. The United States will continue to donate life-saving vaccines and provide support to help Bangladesh reach the goal of fully vaccinating 70% of the country by the middle of 2022,” US Embassy Chargé d’Affaires Helen LaFave said on Tuesday.
In addition to vaccine donations, the US continues to work closely with Bangladesh to support the national Covid-19 vaccination campaign.
The US has provided training to over 7,000 healthcare providers on proper vaccination management, supported cold-chain storage and transportation, and assisted with targeted campaigns to vaccinate students and hard-to-reach people.
Read: EU imposes restrictive measures on 22 individuals, 4 entities in Myanmar
To date, the US has contributed over $121 million in Covid-related development and humanitarian assistance through the US Agency for International Development, the Department of Defense, the Department of State, and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
This assistance has saved lives and treated individuals infected with Covid-19, strengthened testing capacity and monitoring, enhanced case management and infection prevention and control practices, and improved supply chain and logistics management systems.
The US support has also protected frontline workers and increased the public’s knowledge on how to better protect themselves from infection.
The US has donated $4 billion to support the worldwide COVAX effort, which includes support for ultra-cold chain storage, transportation, and safe handling of Covid-19 vaccines, making the country the world’s largest donor for equitable global corona vaccine access.
Blockades on Canada-US border continue, protests swell
Protesters opposed to COVID-19 vaccine mandates and other restrictions withdrew their vehicles from a key U.S.-Canadian border bridge Saturday but still blocked access while other demonstrations ramped up in cities across Canada, including the capital, where police said they were awaiting more officers before ending what they described as an illegal occupation.
The tense standoff at the Ambassador Bridge linking Detroit and Windsor, Ontario, eased somewhat early in the day when Canadian police persuaded demonstrators to move the trucks they had used to barricade the entrance to the busy international crossing.
But protesters reconvened nearby — with reinforcements — and were still choking off access from the Canadian side late Saturday, snarling traffic and commerce for a sixth day.
In Ottawa, the ranks of protesters swelled to what police said was 4,000 demonstrators. The city has seen that on past weekends, and loud music played as people milled about downtown where anti-vaccine demonstrators have been encamped since late January.
The protests at the bridge, in Ottawa and elsewhere have reverberated outside the country, with similarly inspired convoys in France, New Zealand and the Netherlands, and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security warned that truck convoys may be in the works in the United States.
An ex-Cabinet minister in Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government took the unusual step of calling out her former federal colleagues as well as the province and city for not putting an end to the protests.
“Amazingly, this isn’t just Ottawa. It’s the nation’s capital,” Catherine McKenna tweeted. “But no one — not the city, the province or the federal government can seem to get their act together to end this illegal occupation. It’s appalling. ... Just get your act together. Now.”
READ: Canada PM tests positive for Covid, rips anti vaccine demo
Trudeau has called the protesters a “fringe” of Canadian society, and both federal and provincial leaders say they can’t order police what to do.
“Safety concerns — arising from aggressive, illegal behavior by many demonstrators — limited police enforcement capabilities,” Ottawa police said in a statement late Saturday.
Ottawa police said a joint command center had now been set up together with the Ontario Provincial Police and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
Police earlier issued a statement calling the protest an unlawful occupation and saying they were waiting for police “reinforcements” before implementing a plan to end the demonstrations.
READ: Joint committee to work to brand Bangladesh in Canada
Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson declared a state of emergency last week for the capital, where hundreds of trucks remained in front of the Parliament Buildings and demonstrators have set up portable toilets outside the prime minister’s office where Trudeau’s motorcade usually parks.
Surrounded by dozens of officers in Windsor, a man with “Mandate Freedom” and “Trump 2024” spray-painted on his vehicle left the bridge entrance early in the day as others began dismantling a small, tarp-covered encampment. A trucker honked his horn as he, too, drove off, to cheers and chants of “Freedom!”
But hundreds more arrived to bolster the crowd and settled into a faceoff with police about two blocks away, waving flags and yelling. While there were no visible physical confrontations, the crowd still controlled the road to the bridge, and traffic had not resumed as of the evening.
Windsor police tweeted that no one had been arrested but urged people to stay away from the bridge: “We appreciate the cooperation of the demonstrators at this time and we will continue to focus on resolving the demonstration peacefully. Avoid area!”
Protester Daniel Koss said shortly before police advanced that the demonstration had succeeded in bringing attention to demands to lift COVID-19 mandates and he was happy it remained peaceful.
“It’s a win-win,” Koss said. “The pandemic is rolling down right now, they can remove the mandates, all the mandates, and everyone’s happy. The government does the right thing, and the protesters are all happy.”
The previous day, a judge ordered an end to the blockade of mostly pickup trucks and cars, and Ontario Premier Doug Ford declared a state of emergency allowing for fines of 100,000 Canadian dollars and up to one year in jail for anyone illegally blocking roads, bridges, walkways and other critical infrastructure.
“The illegal blockades are impacting trade, supply chains & manufacturing. They’re hurting Canadian families, workers & businesses. Glad to see the Windsor Police & its policing partners commenced enforcement at and near the Ambassador Bridge,” Federal Innovation Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne tweeted Saturday. “These blockades must stop.”
The Ambassador Bridge is the busiest U.S.-Canadian border crossing, carrying 25% of all trade between the two countries, and auto plants on both sides have been forced to shut down or reduce production this week. The standoff came at a time when the industry is already struggling to maintain production in the face of pandemic-induced shortages of computer chips and other supply-chain disruptions.
In Ottawa, 31-year-old Stephanie Ravensbergen said she turned out to support her aunt and uncle who have parked their semi in the streets since the beginning of the protest. She opposes vaccine and mask requirements, and said it’s important for schoolchildren to be able see their friends’ faces and emotions.
“We want the right to choose,” Ravensbergen said. “We want the right to be able to do what everybody else can do.”
Protesters on Saturday tore down a fence that authorities put up around the capital’s National War Memorial two weeks ago after demonstrators urinated on it. Some later chanted “liberte,” French for “freedom.”
“Completely unacceptable,” Lawrence MacAulay, Canada’s veterans affairs minister, tweeted. “This behavior is disappointing and I’m calling on protesters to respect our monuments.”
On the other side of the country, protesters disrupted operations at another border crossing between Surrey, British Columbia, and Blaine, Washington, but officials said it was not blocked. Two border crossings, in Alberta and in Manitoba, remained shut down as well.
While the protesters are decrying vaccine mandates for truckers and other COVID-19 restrictions, many of Canada’s public health measures, such as mask rules and vaccine passports for getting into restaurants and theaters, are already falling away as the omicron surge levels off.
Pandemic restrictions have been far stricter there than in the U.S., but Canadians have largely supported them. The vast majority of Canadians are vaccinated, and the COVID-19 death rate is one-third that of the United States.
Inspired by the Canadian demonstrations, protests against pandemic restrictions were seen in parts of Europe on Saturday.
At least 500 vehicles in several convoys attempted to enter Paris at key arteries but were intercepted by police. Over 200 motorists were ticketed, and elsewhere at least two people were detained amid a seizure of knives, hammers and other objects in a central square.
Police fired tear gas against a handful of people who demonstrated on the Champs Elysees Avenue in defiance of a police order. An Associated Press photographer was hit in the head with a gas canister as police struggled to control the crowd.
In the Netherlands, meanwhile, dozens of trucks and other vehicles ranging from tractors to a car towing a camper arrived in The Hague, blocking an entrance to the historic parliamentary complex. Protesters on foot joined them, carrying a banner emblazoned with “Love & freedom, no dictatorship” in Dutch.
Earlier this week in New Zealand, protesters rolled up to Parliament grounds in a convoy of cars and trucks and set up camp. Police have taken a hands-off approach after initial attempts to remove them resulted in physical confrontations.
Parliament Speaker Trevor Mallard on Friday ordered his staff to turn on the lawn’s sprinklers to douse them and to play Barry Manilow tunes and the 1990s hit “Macarena” over loudspeakers to annoy them. Protesters responded by playing their own songs, including Twisted Sister’s “We’re Not Gonna Take It.”
75% of target population fully vaccinated : Health Minister
Seventy-five per cent of the target population have been vaccinated against Covid-19 in the country, said Health Minister Zahid Maleque on Thursday.
“Already 10 crore doses of vaccine have been administered and 75% people out of 12 crore people have been brought under vaccination programme,” he said while speaking at a programme on the occasion of Cancer Day at the Cancer Research Institute in the city.
Steps have been taken to vaccinate the floating people and transport workers, he said.
“I have talked to some people who are not willing to take the Covid jabs but I want to say that most of the people in Bangladesh want to get vaccinated unlike people of many other countries,” said Maleque.
Also read: US donates 6mn more Pfizer vaccine doses to Bangladesh
Mentioning that vaccines can reduce the risk of mortality, the Health Minister said the mortality rate is low in the country because a large number of people were brought under vaccination programme. “That’s why the number of patients in the hospitals is less.”
During the second wave of Covid-19, 10,000-12,000 people were hospitalised but some 1000-1500 people were hospitlaised during the third wave of Covid, he said.
“Seventy-five percent of hospital beds are empty now so I would request you to take Covid jabs in your arms,” said the Minister.
The number of cancer patients is increasing due to changes in lifestyle, he said adding currently, there are 20 lakh cancer patients and every year, 1.5 lakh people are diagnosed with cancer while one lakh people die of cancer every year in the country, he said.
If detected at the primary stage, cancer is curable, he added.
Also read: Bank officials, staff must have vaccine certificates :BB
The government has taken a step to build eight cancer hospitals in eight divisions to ensure medical services to cancer patients, said Maleque.
All to be fully vaccinated in Bangladesh by Dec: Health Minister
All the people of the country will get the two doses of vaccines and the booster one against Covid-19 by December as per the target, said Health Minister Zahid Maleque on Monday.
"Bangladesh has been successful in its vaccination campaign. Around 10 crore people in the country have been vaccinated so far," he said while talking to reporters at the Secretariat.
Read:Mohibul says student vaccination makes progress; 64 % done
The minister said the government has so far spent more than Tk 20,000 crore on vaccinating the people of the country.
“About 70 per cent of people have been vaccinated. Among them, around 6.75 crore people have received the second doses and 26 lakh people got the booster shots,” he said.
“The government is not finding people to vaccinate,” he said.
A different COVID-19 vaccine debate: Do we need new ones?
COVID-19 vaccines are saving an untold number of lives, but they can’t stop the chaos when a hugely contagious new mutant bursts on the scene, leading people to wonder: Will we need boosters every few months? A new vaccine recipe? A new type of shot altogether?
That’s far from settled, but with the shots still doing their main job many experts are cautioning against setting too high a bar.
“We need collectively to be rethinking what is the goal of vaccination,” said Dr. Daniel Kuritzkes, infectious disease chief at Brigham & Women’s Hospital. “It’s unrealistic ... to believe that any kind of vaccination is going to protect people from infection, from mild symptomatic disease, forever.”
If the goal is preventing serious illness, “we may not need to be doing as much fine-tuning of the vaccines every time a new variant comes.”
The virus is essentially shape-shifting as it mutates, with no way to know how bad the next variant will be. Already a sub-strain of omicron bearing its own unique mutations is circulating. Research is underway to create next-generation vaccines that might offer broader protection against future mutants -- but they won’t be ready anytime soon.
Read: Omicron drives US deaths higher than in fall’s delta wave
The immediate solution: Getting today’s shots into more arms will “reduce the opportunities for the virus to mutate and spawn new Greek letters that we then have to worry about,” said Jennifer Nuzzo of the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security.
WHY IMMUNITY ISN’T PERFECT
The job of blocking infection falls to antibodies, which form after either vaccination or a prior bout with COVID-19, ready to fight back the next time someone’s exposed.
One problem: Mutations change the appearance of the spike protein that covers the coronavirus much like a crook switches disguises to evade capture. That’s why omicron was more able to slip past that first defense than earlier variants -- its spike coating was harder for existing antibodies to recognize.
Also, the immune system isn’t designed to be in a constant state of high alert, so the antibodies that fend off infection do wane over time. Several months after two doses of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines, people had little protection against an omicron infection — a result of both waning antibodies and the variant’s mutation.
Thankfully, different immune system soldiers called T cells are key to prevent an infection from turning into severe illness — and that protection is lasting longer because T cells are recognizing other parts of the virus that don’t mutate as easily.
A THIRD DOSE MATTERS
After a booster, protection against symptomatic disease from omicron is about 70% -- not as good as the 94% protection seen with earlier variants that more closely matched the vaccine yet highly effective. Importantly, the booster also further strengthened protection against serious illness.
Researchers are closely tracking if infection-fighting antibodies stick around longer after a third dose -- but at some point, those levels are guaranteed to wane again. So-called memory cells can make more the next time the body senses they’re needed.
Still, Israel is offering a fourth dose to some people, including those 60 and older, and mulling giving the additional booster to all adults.
The debate is whether repeated boosting really is the best approach — especially since scary new variants are less likely to form once more of the world’s population gets initial vaccinations.
Endless boosting just to keep antibody levels constantly high is “not a public health strategy that works,” said Dr. Paul Offit, a vaccine expert at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.
Pfizer and Moderna are testing omicron-specific boosters in some American adults, although it’s far from clear if authorities would abandon a vaccine recipe proven to save lives for a tweaked version in hopes of fewer breakthrough infections. Brewing a single shot with two kinds of vaccine is technically possible but, again, they’d have to prove the mixture doesn’t weaken the original protection against severe illness.
NEW APPROACHES IN THE PIPELINE
Whatever happens with omicron, it’s clear the coronavirus is here to stay and the U.S. National Institutes of Health is funding about $43 million in projects to develop so-called “pan-coronavirus” vaccines that promise to protect against more than one type. One possibility: Nanoparticles that carry pieces of spike proteins from four to eight different versions of the virus rather than the single type in today’s vaccines.
It’s a tantalizing idea, but NIH infectious diseases chief Dr. Anthony Fauci called it a years-long endeavor. “I don’t want anyone to think that pan-coronavirus vaccines are literally around the corner,” he said.
A possibly more direct approach: Creating COVID-19 vaccines that can be squirted into the nose to form antibodies ready to fight the virus right where we first encounter it. Nasal vaccines are harder to develop than injected versions but attempts are underway, including a large study just announced by India’s Bharat Biotech.
Read:Third COVID wave looms in Indonesia as omicron spreads
PROTECTION VARIES GLOBALLY
Complicating any possible change to vaccine strategy is the grim reality that only 10% of people in low-income countries have received at least one vaccine dose. Also, recent studies show that some types of vaccines used around the world appear easier than others for omicron to evade, meaning booster strategies may need to be tailored.
Yale University researchers found no omicron-targeted antibodies in the blood of people given two doses of vaccine made by China’s Sinovac. Following those initial shots with a Pfizer booster -- a very different kind of vaccine -- helped but not enough, only increasing antibody levels to the amount seen by Pfizer recipients who didn’t get a booster.
Overshadowing all of these questions is that “we don’t know how to predict the next strain,” said Dr. Jesse Goodman of Georgetown University, a former Food and Drug Administration vaccine chief. He wants to see a global strategy that defines the trigger for any vaccine change. “Otherwise we are going to have a confused public, again.”
US donates additional 9.6 million Pfizer vaccine doses to Bangladesh
The United States on Saturday donated 9.6 million doses of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine to Bangladesh, a gift from the American people.
This donation of Pfizer vaccine brings the overall U.S. government vaccine contribution to over 28 million doses.
“Nothing has made me prouder as U.S. Ambassador to Bangladesh over the past three years than the work we are doing together to combat the COVID-19 pandemic," said US Ambassador to Bangladesh Earl R Miller.
He said he is pleased to announce, through the generosity of the American people, a donation of 9.6 million additional vaccine doses to the people of Bangladesh.
Also read: Another 2.4 million Pfizer jabs received from US
"The United States has now donated, free for charge, over 28 million vaccine doses to Bangladesh with millions more on the way. We salute and stand with heroic Bangladeshi health care providers and assistance partners as we work together to provide a healthier, brighter future for the people of both our great nations,” said outgoing Ambassador Miller.
This delivery of Pfizer vaccine doses is part of the United States’ commitment to lead the global COVID-19 response by donating a billion doses of Pfizer vaccine around the world through 2022.
In addition to vaccine donations, the United States continues to work closely with Bangladesh to support the national COVID-19 vaccination campaign and strengthen the government’s response to the pandemic, said the US Embassy in Dhaka.
The United States has provided training to over 7,000 healthcare providers on the proper management and administration of vaccines.
To date, the United States has contributed over $121 million in COVID-related development and humanitarian assistance through USAID, the U.S. Department of Defense, the U.S. Department of State, and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Also read: Pfizer pill becomes 1st US-authorized home COVID treatment
This assistance has saved lives and treated individuals infected with COVID-19, strengthened testing capacity and monitoring, enhanced case management and infection prevention and control practices, and improved the supply chain and logistics management systems.
U.S. support has also protected front line workers and increased the public’s knowledge on how to better protect themselves from infection.
The United States has donated $4 billion to support the worldwide COVAX effort, which includes support for ultra-cold chain storage, transportation, and safe handling of COVID-19 vaccines, making the United States the world’s largest donor for equitable global COVID-19 vaccine access.
Supreme Court halts Biden’s COVID-19 vaccine rule for US businesses
The Supreme Court has stopped a major push by the Biden administration to boost the nation’s COVID-19 vaccination rate, a requirement that employees at large businesses get a vaccine or test regularly and wear a mask on the job.
At the same time, the court is allowing the administration to proceed with a vaccine mandate for most health care workers in the U.S. The court’s orders Thursday came during a spike in coronavirus cases caused by the omicron variant.
The court’s conservative majority concluded the administration overstepped its authority by seeking to impose the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s vaccine-or-test rule on U.S. businesses with at least 100 employees. More than 80 million people would have been affected and OSHA had estimated that the rule would save 6,500 lives and prevent 250,000 hospitalizations over six months.
Also read: COVID-19 death number in U.S. likely undercounted: expert
“OSHA has never before imposed such a mandate. Nor has Congress. Indeed, although Congress has enacted significant legislation addressing the COVID–19 pandemic, it has declined to enact any measure similar to what OSHA has promulgated here,” the conservatives wrote in an unsigned opinion.
In dissent, the court’s three liberals argued that it was the court that was overreaching by substituting its judgment for that of health experts. “Acting outside of its competence and without legal basis, the Court displaces the judgments of the Government officials given the responsibility to respond to workplace health emergencies,” Justices Stephen Breyer, Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor wrote in a joint dissent.
President Joe Biden said he was “disappointed that the Supreme Court has chosen to block common-sense life-saving requirements for employees at large businesses that were grounded squarely in both science and the law.”
Biden called on businesses to institute their own vaccination requirements, noting that a third of Fortune 100 companies already have done so.
When crafting the OSHA rule, White House officials always anticipated legal challenges — and privately some harbored doubts that it could withstand them. The administration nonetheless still views the rule as a success at already driving millions of people to get vaccinated and encouraging private businesses to implement their own requirements that are unaffected by the legal challenge.
The OSHA regulation had initially been blocked by a federal appeals court in New Orleans, then allowed to take effect by a federal appellate panel in Cincinnati.
Both rules had been challenged by Republican-led states. In addition, business groups attacked the OSHA emergency regulation as too expensive and likely to cause workers to leave their jobs at a time when finding new employees already is difficult.
The National Retail Federation, the nation’s largest retail trade group, called the Supreme Court’s decision “a significant victory for employers.”
Also read:Omicron explosion spurs nationwide breakdown of services in USA
The vaccine mandate that the court will allow to be enforced nationwide scraped by on a 5-4 vote, with Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Brett Kavanaugh joining the liberals to form a majority. The mandate covers virtually all health care workers in the country, applying to providers that receive federal Medicare or Medicaid funding. It affects 10.4 million workers at 76,000 health care facilities as well as home health care providers. The rule has medical and religious exemptions.
Biden said that decision by the court “will save lives.”
In an unsigned opinion, the court wrote: “The challenges posed by a global pandemic do not allow a federal agency to exercise power that Congress has not conferred upon it. At the same time, such unprecedented circumstances provide no grounds for limiting the exercise of authorities the agency has long been recognized to have.” It said the “latter principle governs” in the healthcare arena.
Justice Clarence Thomas wrote in dissent that the case was about whether the administration has the authority “to force healthcare workers, by coercing their employers, to undergo a medical procedure they do not want and cannot undo.” He said the administration hadn’t shown convincingly that Congress gave it that authority.
Justices Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett signed onto Thomas’ opinion. Alito wrote a separate dissent that the other three conservatives also joined.
Decisions by federal appeals courts in New Orleans and St. Louis had blocked the mandate in about half the states. The administration already was taking steps to enforce it elsewhere.
More than 208 million Americans, 62.7% of the population, are fully vaccinated, and more than a third of those have received booster shots, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. All nine justices have gotten booster shots.
The courthouse remains closed to the public, and lawyers and reporters are asked for negative test results before being allowed inside the courtroom for arguments, though vaccinations are not required.
The justices heard arguments on the challenges last week. Their questions then hinted at the split verdict that they issued Thursday.
A separate vaccine mandate for federal contractors, on hold after lower courts blocked it, has not been considered by the Supreme Court.
One dose of vaccine must to attend schools: Cabinet Secretary
The students, aged above 12 or above, must receive at least one dose of Covid-19 vaccine to attend schools and colleges, said Cabinet Secretary Khandker Anwarul Islam on Thursday.
“The Ministry of Education has already given instructions that no one can come to schools without getting vaccinated. The issue was discussed at an inter-ministerial meeting on January 3 and it was confirmed today,” he said while briefing reporters after the Cabinet meeting.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina chaired the virtual cabinet meeting, joining it from her official residence Ganobhaban, while others concerned got connected from the Bangladesh Secretariat.
Replying to a question over the explanation of that decision, the cabinet secretary said the students, aged above 12, will have to receive at least one jab of the Covid-19 inoculation to attend schools and colleges.
Also read: Covid vaccine: Fakirhat becomes first upazila to jab 100% of eligible population
FDA expands Pfizer boosters for more teens as omicron surges
The U.S. is expanding COVID-19 boosters as it confronts the omicron surge, with the Food and Drug Administration allowing extra Pfizer shots for children as young as 12.
Boosters already are recommended for everyone 16 and older, and federal regulators on Monday decided they’re also warranted for 12- to 15-year-olds once enough time has passed since their last dose.
But the move, coming as classes restart after the holidays, isn’t the final step. A panel to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is expected to decide later this week whether to recommend boosters for the younger teens with a final decision by Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the CDC’s director.
The FDA also said everyone 12 and older who's eligible for a Pfizer booster can get one as early as five months after their last dose rather than six months.
FDA vaccine chief Dr. Peter Marks said even though serious illness is uncommon in younger teens, a booster will help them avoid that risk — while also helping reduce the spread of omicron or any other coronavirus mutant.
“Hopefully this will be not just a call for people to go get their booster shot,” but for the tens of millions of unvaccinated Americans to rethink that choice, Marks said. “It's not too late to start to get vaccinated.”
Also read: FDA paves way for Pfizer COVID-19 vaccinations in young kids
The FDA based its latest booster decision largely on real-world data from Israel that found no new safety concerns when 6,300 12- to 15-year-olds got a Pfizer booster five months after their second dose.
Likewise, the FDA said even more data from Israel showed no problems with giving anyone eligible for a Pfizer booster that extra dose a month sooner than the six months that until now has been U.S. policy.
The chief safety question for younger teens is a rare side effect called myocarditis, a type of heart inflammation seen mostly in younger men and teen boys who get either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines. The vast majority of cases are mild — far milder than the heart inflammation caused by COVID-19 — and they seem to peak in older teens, the 16- and 17-year-olds.
Marks said the side effect occurs in about 1 in 10,000 men and boys ages 16 to 30 after their second shot — but that a third dose appears less risky, by about a third. That's probably because more time has passed before the booster than between the first two shots, he said.
While the FDA didn’t consult its independent scientific advisers before making that decision, the CDC's own advisory panel is sure to closely weigh how much benefit this age group is likely to get before backing the extra shot.
Vaccines still offer strong protection against serious illness from any type of COVID-19. But health authorities are urging everyone who’s eligible to get a booster dose for their best chance at avoiding milder breakthrough infections from the highly contagious omicron mutant.
Children tend to suffer less serious illness from COVID-19 than adults. But child hospitalizations are rising during the omicron wave -- most of them unvaccinated.
Pediatrician and global health expert Dr. Philip Landrigan of Boston College welcomed the FDA's decisions, but stressed that the main need is to get the unvaccinated their first shots.
“It is among unvaccinated people that most of the severe illness and death from COVID will occur in coming weeks,” he said in an email. "Many thousands of lives could be saved if people could persuade themselves to get vaccinated.”
Also read: Pfizer asks FDA to OK COVID-19 booster shots for all adults
The vaccine made by Pfizer and its partner BioNTech is the only U.S. option for children of any age. About 13.5 million 12- to 17-year-olds — just over half that age group — have received two Pfizer shots, according to the CDC.
For families hoping to keep their children as protected as possible, the booster age limit raised questions.
The older teens, 16- and 17-year-olds, became eligible for boosters in early December. But original vaccinations opened for the younger teens, those 12 to 15, back in May. That means those first in line in the spring, potentially millions, are about as many months past their last dose as the slightly older teens.
As for even younger children, kid-size doses for 5- to 11-year-olds rolled out more recently, in November -- and experts say healthy youngsters should be protected after their second dose for a while. But the FDA also said Monday that if children that young have severely weakened immune systems, they will be allowed a third dose 28 days after their second. That’s the same third-dose timing already recommended for immune-compromised teens and adults.
Pfizer is studying its vaccine, in even smaller doses, for children younger than 5.
What about timing of boosters for adults who got the Moderna or Johnson & Johnson vaccines?
The FDA said it didn’t have any new data from Moderna to back a timing change and people who’d already had two Moderna shots should continue to wait six months for a booster. As for people who originally got the single-dose J&J shot, the U.S. already recommends another dose of any vaccine two months later.
90 pc of adult population in India vaccinated against COVID-19 with first dose: Union Health Ministry
Approximately 90 per cent of the adult population in India has been vaccinated against COVID-19 with the first dose, said The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Thursday, reports ANI.
Briefing media persons, Luv Aggarwal, Joint Secretary, Union Health Ministry said, "Approximately 90 per cent of the adult population in India has been vaccinated against COVID-19 with the first dose. On average, India reported more than 8,000 cases per day last week. Overall case positivity rate stands at 0.92 per cent. From December 26 onwards, the country has been reporting 10,000 daily cases."
Read: US should consider vaccine mandate for US air travel: Fauci
"The weekly positivity rate of more than 10 per cent is being noted in eight districts including six districts of Mizoram, one from Arunachal Pradesh and Kolkata in West Bengal. The weekly case positivity rate is between 5-10 per cent in 14 districts of the country. There are 961 cases of Omicron variant of coronavirus in India, out of which 320 patients have recovered," he added.
India has reported 13,154 new COVID-19 cases and 268 deaths in the last 24 hours, the Union Health Ministry said on Thursday.
The tally of Omicron COVID-19 variant cases in the country has gone up to 961 with maximum cases were reported from Delhi (263) and Maharashtra (252).
With this, the country's COVID-19 tally has risen to 34,822,040 while the death toll has mounted to 4,80,860.
The ministry informed that the active caseload in the country stands at 82,402 constituting 0.24 per cent of the total cases.
As many as 7,486 patients recovered in the last 24 hours taking the total number of recoveries to 3,42,58,778.
The recovery rate in the country currently stands at 98.38 per cent.
Read:French kids line up to get vaccine shots as omicron spreads
The weekly positivity rate in the country is 0.76 per cent which remains lesser than 1 per cent for the last 46 days.
The daily positivity rate is 1.10 per cent which remains lesser than 2 per cent for the last 87 days.
The country has conducted as many as 67.64 crore COVID-19 tests so far.