COVID-19 vaccines
Global Covid cases top 133 million
As the world witnesses the worst of the pandemic, the overall number of global Covid cases has now surged past 133 million. The death toll from the virus is also fast nearing the grim milestone of 3 million.
According to Johns Hopkins University (JHU), the total case count reached 133,808,161 while the death toll from the virus mounted to 2,901,072 on Friday morning.
The US has so far recorded 31,001,636 cases and 560,090 deaths, as per the university data.
In the US, nearly half of new coronavirus infections are in just five states -- a situation that is putting pressure on the federal government to consider changing how it distributes vaccines by sending more doses to hotspots, reports AP.
New York, Michigan, Florida, Pennsylvania and New Jersey together reported 44% of the nation’s new Covid-19 infections, in the latest available seven-day period, according to the state health agency data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
The Texas Department of State Health Services reported 3,177 new cases, a figure below the state’s seven-day rolling average of 3,314 as computed by Johns Hopkins University researchers. That pushed the state’s pandemic total increased to 3,022,708 with the addition of 1,522 previously unreported Covid-19 cases. The state estimated 65,587 were active.
Researchers said the rolling average of daily new cases over the past two weeks held steady at 3,314 per day, and that 170 new Texas cases per 100,000 people over the past two weeks ranked 38th in the nation for new cases per capita.
Also read: Are some Covid-19 vaccines more effective than others?
Brazil on Tuesday registered a record 4,195 deaths from Covid in a single day, taking the accumulated pandemic toll to 336,947, the Ministry of Health said.
In Brazil, 31,279,857 people have tested positive so far, with 345,025 fatalities.
Neighbouring India has recorded 12,928,574 cases and 166,862 deaths as of Friday morning, according to the data.
The coronavirus pandemic started 2021 in the midst of its deadliest phase yet. As the effects of unheeded holiday travel warnings set in and more contagious variants of the virus took hold, parts of North and South America, Europe and the Mideast saw record confirmed cases and deaths in January, reports AP.
Halfway through the first month of the year, the worldwide death toll reached 2 million. Virus-related deaths in the U.S. surpassed 400,000 four days later and hit 500,000 a little more than a month after that. National lockdowns and extended bans on international travel were reimposed as infections climbed again, replaying scenes from the early months of the crisis.
More than 47% of the 190 countries providing ongoing epidemiological data reported increases in the 7-day rolling average for new cases between the end of February and the beginning of March. More than one-third showed Covid-19 deaths on the upswing.
The pandemic, which had been tamed in some places over the summer before roaring back in the final months of last year, still could be more lion than lamb as spring approaches.
Also read: Covid-19: Bangladesh sees highest daily death toll of 74
Vaccination campaign
Nationalism also complicated the largest vaccination campaign in world history.
The AstraZeneca vaccine developed in Britain struggled to win full-throated endorsements elsewhere in Europe.
Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine and vaccines made in China became instruments of geopolitics and tools in international diplomacy. Eager to secure shots for their citizens and to display industrial prowess, Turkey and India signed agreements to produce Sputnik V. The Balkan nation of Serbia jumped ahead in vaccinating its residents by securing both the Russian and Chinese vaccines.
As he prepared to take over the White House, Joe Biden made a commitment to administer 100 million shots during the first 100 days of his presidency. The Food and Drug Administration has authorised three vaccines for use in the US, all developed or co-developed by American companies --Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson.
Also read: Bangladesh begins second phase of Covid-19 vaccination drive
Situation in Bangladesh
As Covid-19 continued its onslaught despite lockdown, Bangladesh registered 74 more deaths in 24 hours till Thursday morning, breaking all its previous records.
The number of new coronavirus cases dropped slightly to 6,854 after remaining over 7,000 for the past four days, said a handout issued by the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
With the new 74 deaths, the Covid-19 fatalities rose to 9,521 while the mortality rate remained static at 1.43 percent.
The infection rate slipped to 20.65 percent from 22.02 percent on Wednesday.
During the reporting period, 3,391 patients recovered, raising the number of recoveries to 565,030, the DGHS said.
Are some Covid-19 vaccines more effective than others?
Do some Covid-19 vaccines work more effectively than others?
It’s hard to tell since they weren’t directly compared in studies. But experts say the vaccines are alike on what matters most: preventing hospitalizations and deaths.
“Luckily, all these vaccines look like they’re protecting us from severe disease,” said Dr Monica Gandhi of the University of California, San Francisco, citing study results for five vaccines used around the world and a sixth that’s still in review.
Also read: Countries worldwide hit new records for virus cases, deaths
And real-world evidence as millions of people receive the vaccines show they’re all working very well.
Still, people might wonder if one is better than another since studies conducted before the vaccines were rolled out found varying levels of effectiveness. The problem is they don’t offer apples-to-apples comparisons.
Consider the two-dose vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna, found to be about 95% effective at preventing illness. Studies for those shots counted a Covid-19 case whether it was mild, moderate or severe — and were conducted before worrisome mutated versions of the virus began circulating.
Also read: Governments give varying advice on AstraZeneca vaccine
Then Johnson & Johnson tested a single-dose vaccine and didn’t count mild illnesses. J&J’s shot was 66% protective against moderate to severe illness in a large international study. In just the U.S., where there’s less spread of variants, it was 72% effective. More importantly, once the vaccine’s effect kicked in it prevented hospitalization and death.
AstraZeneca’s two-dose vaccine used in many countries has faced questions about the exact degree of its effectiveness indicated by studies. But experts agree those shots, too, protect against the worst outcomes.
Also read: COVAX reaches over 100 economies, 42 days after first international delivery
Around the world, hospitalizations are dropping in countries where vaccines have been rolling out including Israel, England and Scotland — regardless of which shots are given. And the US government’s first look at real-world data among essential workers provided further evidence that the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are highly protective -- 90% -- against infections whether there were symptoms or not.
The Latest: Pfizer: Vaccine effective up to 6 months later
Pfizer says its vaccine continues to be effective against COVID-19 up to six months later.
Pfizer and its German partner, BioNTech, announced updated results Thursday from their ongoing late-stage study of more than 44,000 volunteers.
Also read: Pfizer says its COVID-19 vaccine protects younger teens
The companies said the vaccine was 91% effective against symptomatic disease and was even more protective in preventing severe disease. Of 927 confirmed COVID-19 cases detected through March 13, 77 were among people who received the vaccine and 850 were among people who got dummy shots.
There were no serious safety concerns and the vaccine also appeared to work against a variant first detected in South Africa, the companies said.
Also read: Pfizer studying effects of 3rd vaccine dose
The U.K. and U.S. gave the emergency green light to roll out Pfizer’s vaccine late last year followed by many other countries. The vaccine is authorized for ages 16 and up.
This week, the companies said the vaccine is safe and strongly protective in kids as young as 12, based on a study of 2,260 U.S. volunteers.
Also read: Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine works well in big ‘real world’ test
Covid-19: Bangladesh records highest-ever daily cases, 59 deaths
For the third time in four days, Bangladesh recorded its highest daily coronavirus cases as the health authorities confirmed 6,469 new infections on Thursday afternoon.
The infection rate jumped to 22.94 percent from 19.9 of Wednesday’s when the country recorded 5,358 cases, the highest in months.
On Tuesday, 5,042 cases were recorded and the number was 5,181 on Monday.
Also read: Avoid public gatherings, wear masks to fight Covid surge, PM urges all
Bangladesh had seen a sharp decline in cases and the daily infection rate dropped below 5 percent but the sudden spurt appears to have caught the health sector unawares. There is hardly any bed available at hospitals treating coronavirus patients.
The country’s covid caseload soared to 617,764 after it recorded its highest-ever single day case count, according to a handout issued by the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
During the 24-hour period until Thursday morning, 2,539 coronavirus patients recovered, taking the number of recoveries to 544,938.
Bangladesh reported its first cases on March 8 last year and confirmed the first death from the virus 10 days later.
The country has so far tested 4,698,774 samples, including 28,198 in the last 24 hours, the DGHS said.
Dhaka sees highest deaths
Meanwhile, the fatalities reached 9,105 with 59 new deaths. The mortality rate slipped slightly to 1.47 percent.
Coronavirus claimed 568 lives in January this year, 281 in February and 638 in March.
Among the latest victims, 40 people died in Dhaka division, five in Chattogram, two each in Rajshahi and Rangpur, four in Khulna, one in Barishal and five in Sylhet division.
So far, 5,192 coronavirus patients died in Dhaka division, 1,645 in Chattogram, 506 in Rajshahi, 586 in Khulna, 274 in Barishal, 325 in Sylhet, 376 in Rangpur and 201 in Mymensingh divisions.
So far 6,847 men (75.20) and 2,258 women (24.80) died of the virus.
Also read: New variant may be behind Covid surge in Bangladesh: Experts
Govt strengthens protective steps
The daily surge prompted the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) to issue an 18-point directive on Monday to prevent the virus’ transmission.
On the same day, the Health Ministry proposed strict measures like partial lockdowns for some places with higher Covid-19 transmission rates.
Other recommendations made by the ministry include closure of amusement centres, picnic spots, religious gatherings, limiting wedding ceremonies, strengthening quarantine systems, limiting passengers in public transports, and limiting attendance in offices.
It also suggested strong enforcement of the ‘no mask no service’ policy, increasing numbers of mobile courts and slapping fines on health guideline violators.
The administrations in various districts have shut down the amusement centres and are urging people to mask up. But a large number of people are still reluctant to follow covid health guidelines, putting themselves and others around them at risk.
Vaccination drive
The government launched a countrywide vaccination campaign on February 7 with doses received from the Serum Institute of India.
Bangladesh inked an agreement with Serum in December last year for 30 million doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine. Serum is supposed to supply the doses between January and June this year – 5 million each month.
Also read: Covid surge in Bangladesh: Experts for tightening the grip with nighttime curfew
Global situation
Coronavirus cases were first reported in China in December 2019. Since then, countries around the world have reported 128.8 million cases and 2.8 million deaths so far, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
A number of vaccines have been developed to fight the virus. Most notable of them are those made by Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and Oxford-AstraZeneca.
Pfizer says its COVID-19 vaccine protects younger teens
Pfizer announced Wednesday that its COVID-19 vaccine is safe and strongly protective in kids as young as 12, a step toward possibly beginning shots in this age group before they head back to school in the fall.
Most COVID-19 vaccines being rolled out worldwide are for adults, who are at higher risk from the coronavirus. Pfizer’s vaccine is authorized for ages 16 and older. But vaccinating children of all ages will be critical to stopping the pandemic — and helping schools, at least the upper grades, start to look a little more normal after months of disruption.
In the vaccine study of 2,260 U.S. volunteers ages 12 to 15, preliminary data showed there were no cases of COVID-19 among fully vaccinated adolescents compared to 18 among those given dummy shots, Pfizer reported.
It’s a small study, that hasn’t yet been published, so another important piece of evidence is how well the shots revved up the kids’ immune systems. Researchers reported high levels of virus-fighting antibodies, somewhat higher than were seen in studies of young adults.
Kids had side effects similar to young adults, the company said. The main side effects are pain, fever, chills and fatigue, particularly after the second dose. The study will continue to track participants for two years for more information about long-term protection and safety.
Dr. Philip J. Landrigan of Boston College said the results are encouraging.
“It’s hard to get kids to comply with masking and distancing, so something that gives them hard protection and takes them out of the mix of spreading the virus is all for the good,” said Landrigan, who was not involved in the study.
Also read: Hong Kong halts use of Pfizer vaccine, cites defective lids
It’s another positive development in the race against the virus even as U.S. cases, at 66,000 new infections a day, are rising again and deaths are averaging nearly 1,000 a day. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director Dr. Rochelle Walensky warned Americans again Wednesday that “we can’t afford to let our guard down.”
Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech in the coming weeks plan to ask the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and European regulators to allow emergency use of the shots starting at age 12.
“We share the urgency to expand the use of our vaccine,” Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said in a statement. He expressed “the hope of starting to vaccinate this age group before the start of the next school year” in the United States.
Pfizer isn’t the only company seeking to lower the age limit for its vaccine. Results also are expected by the middle of this year from a U.S. study of Moderna’s vaccine in 12- to 17-year-olds.
But in a sign that the findings were promising, the FDA already allowed both companies to begin U.S. studies in children 11 and younger, working their way to as young as 6-month-old.
Also read: US approves Pfizer vaccine storage for 2 weeks at higher temperature
“We are longing for a normal life. This is especially true for our children,” BioNTech CEO Ugur Sahin said in a statement.
AstraZeneca last month began a study of its vaccine among 6- to 17-year-olds in Britain. Johnson & Johnson is planning its own pediatric studies. And in China, Sinovac recently announced it has submitted preliminary data to Chinese regulators showing its vaccine is safe in children as young as 3.
While most COVID-19 vaccines being used globally were first tested in tens of thousands of adults, pediatric studies won’t need to be nearly as large. Scientists have safety information from those studies and from subsequent vaccinations in millions more adults.
One key question is the dosage: Pfizer gave the 12-and-older participants the same dose adults receive, while testing different doses in younger children.
It’s not clear how quickly the FDA would act on Pfizer’s request to allow vaccination starting at age 12. The agency has taken about three weeks to review and authorize each of the vaccines currently available for adults. That process included holding a public meeting of outside experts to review and vote on the safety and effectiveness of each shot.
Also read: Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine works well in big 'real world' test
The process for reviewing data in children could be shorter, given FDA’s familiarity with each vaccine. An agency spokeswoman said the FDA had no information to share on how the review would work, including whether additional public meetings would be required.
Another question is when the country would have enough supply of shots — and people to get them into adolescents’ arms — to let kids start getting in line.
Supplies are set to steadily increase over the spring and summer, at the same time states are opening vaccinations to younger, healthier adults who until now haven’t had a turn.
Children represent about 13% of COVID-19 cases documented in the U.S. And while children are far less likely than adults to get seriously ill, at least 268 have died from COVID-19 in the U.S. alone and more than 13,500 have been hospitalized, according to a tally by the American Academy of Pediatrics. That’s more than die from the flu in an average year. Additionally, a small number have developed a serious inflammatory condition linked to the coronavirus.
Caleb Chung, who turns 13 later this week, agreed to volunteer after his father, a Duke University pediatrician, presented the option. He doesn’t know if he received the vaccine or a placebo.
“Usually I’m just at home doing online school and there’s not much I can really do to fight back against the virus,” Caleb said in a recent interview. The study “was really somewhere that I could actually help out.”
His father, Dr. Richard Chung, said he’s proud of his son and all the other children volunteering for the needle pricks, blood tests and other tasks a study entails.
“We need kids to do these trials so that kids can get protected. Adults can’t do that for them,” Chung said.
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