Coronavirus world: Covid ‘viral blizzard’ to hit US
America is bracing itself for an outbreak of the Omicron variant as WHO grants emergency approval for the India-manufactured vaccine, Covovax.
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The coronavirus will reportedly hit millions of Americans in a “viral blizzard” within weeks as infections from the Omicron variant add to the Delta variant, an expert has claimed.
In the US, hospitalisations are rising and long lines for coronavirus testing formed in major cities such as New York, Boston and Miami.
It comes as Health ministers from G7 nations on Thursday local time determined that the Omicron variant was the “biggest current threat to global public health” after US researchers found the variant was noticeably resistant to vaccines and even a third booster might not fully protect against it, as President Joe Biden warned of a “winter of severe illness and death” for those who were refusing to get vaccinated against Covid-19.
With the Delta variant an ongoing issue and Omicron, with its high transmissibility, could strike millions more soon, Michael Osterholm, director of the Centre for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota told CNN.
“We’re really just about to experience a viral blizzard,” Mr Osterholm said in an interview. “In the next three to eight weeks, we’re going to see millions of Americans are going to be infected with this virus, and that will be overlaid on top of Delta, and we’re not yet sure exactly how that’s going to work out.”
Mr Osterholm said Omicron will place a significant strain on America’s healthcare system as more workers will likely get sick.
“What you have here right now is a potential perfect storm,” Mr Osterholm said.
“I’ve been very concerned about the fact that we could easily see a quarter or a third of our health care workers quickly becoming cases themselves.”
Andy Slavitt, who advised US President Joe Biden on the pandemic, said that while vaccines are now readily available rather than during last winter’s surge in the US, “a very rough January” lies ahead due to Omicron.
“For the health care workers, the hospitals, for people who are sick, even sick with things other than Covid, that represents a real danger and a real threat,” Mr Slavitt told CNN.
Getting vaccinated or boosted remains key as millions of Americans get ready for Christmas travel.
GERMANY MUST PREPARE FOR ‘MASSIVE’ OMICRON WAVE
And Germany, battered by a recent rise in Covid cases, must brace for a “massive fifth wave” due to the new Omicron variant, Health Minister Karl Lauterbach said on Friday local time.
“We must prepare for a challenge that we have not yet had in this form,” Lauterbach told reporters, adding that even if the variant were “milder” it may make “no difference”.
Were the virus to be less serious than other variants, this might “keep deaths low for two to three weeks, before the growth of the virus would eat up this advantage,” the minister said, underlining that a difficult period ahead was “inevitable”.
Germany has reimposed health restrictions following high case numbers, barring unvaccinated individuals from restaurants and non-essential commerce.
Case numbers have declined slightly but the spread of the more infectious Omicron variant, first identified in South Africa, threatens to send new infections up again.
Governments around the world are scrambling to speed up booster vaccination campaigns to increase individuals’ protection against the highly mutated virus.
Germany on Thursday received an additional allocation of 35 million doses of the Moderna vaccine against the coronavirus from the European Union to tackle what Lauterbach called a shortfall in doses identified since coming into office last week.
The government has also placed an advance order for 80 million doses of Omicron-specific vaccines being developed by Pfizer and BioNTech.
The proportion of the population to have already received two doses of the vaccine in Germany surpassed 70 per cent this week.
WHO APPROVES COVOVAX VACCINE
It comes as the World Health Organisation on Friday local time announced it has granted emergency approval to the India-manufactured coronavirus vaccine Covovax.
The jab, produced by Serum Institute of India under licence from the US-based Novavax, will now be distributed as part of global vaccine-sharing system Covax, “giving a much-needed boost to ongoing efforts to vaccinate more people in lower-income countries”, WHO said in a statement.
“Even with new variants emerging, vaccines remain one of the most effective tools to protect people against serious illness and death from SARS-COV-2,” said Mariangela Simao, the WHO’s access to vaccines chief.
“This listing aims to increase access particularly in lower-income countries, 41 of which have still not been able to vaccinate 10 percent of their populations, while 98 countries have not reached 40 percent,” she said.
Covovax requires two doses and is stable at two to eight degrees Celsius refrigerated temperatures.
PFIZER COVID PILL APPROVED FOR EMERGENCY USE
Meanwhile, the EU’s drug regulator on Thursday local time allowed member states to use Pfizer’s new Covid pill ahead of its formal approval, as an emergency measure to curb an Omicron-fuelled wave.
Pills like those by US pharma giant Pfizer and rival Merck have been hailed as groundbreaking because they do not need to be injected or taken intravenously, making them more accessible.
Pfizer said this week that its Paxlovid pill reduced hospitalisations and deaths in vulnerable people by almost 90 per cent, also declaring it worked against the Omicron variant.
“The medicine, which is not yet authorised in the EU, can be used to treat adults with Covid-19 who do not require supplemental oxygen and who are at increased risk of progressing to severe disease,” the EMA said in a statement.
“EMA issued this advice to support national authorities who may decide on possible early use of the medicine … for example in emergency use settings, in the light of rising rates of infection and deaths due to Covid-19 across the EU.”
Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said the decision “signifies the strength of our data for Paxlovid in the treatment of high-risk adults diagnosed with Covid-19”.
“If authorised, Paxlovid has the potential to help save lives and reduce hospitalisations,” he said in a statement.
The Pfizer pill is a combination of a new molecule, PF-07321332, and HIV antiviral ritonavir, that are taken as separate tablets.
The Amsterdam-based EMA said it should be taken as soon as possible after a diagnosis and within five days of the start of symptoms, with the treatment lasting five days.
‘COMBINED EFFECT’
Possible side effects were taste changes, diarrhoea and vomiting. Pregnant women should not use the drug.
The EMA said it also launching a “rolling review” of the Pfizer pill that could lead to its full approval in months.
Merck’s pill received EMA emergency approval in November. It is already authorised in Britain and is in the process of being approved in the United States.
Denmark on Thursday became the first EU country to approve its use. However the full results of a clinical trial released by Merck were disappointing as they showed a much lower efficacy than earlier reports based on interim data.
Separately, the EMA approved GlaxoSmithKline’s Xevudy drug and the treatment Kineret, made by Swedish Orphan Biovitrum, for patients at risk of developing severe Covid.
EU Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides said the new drugs were “crucial” as the “combined effect of Delta and Omicron will unfortunately bring severe disease and hospitalisations up”.
The EMA also announced a special meeting on Monday to decide whether to approve the bloc’s fifth vaccine, made by US firm Novavax.
Novavax uses so-called protein sub-unit technology that is similar to that used in the decades-old hepatitis B and whooping cough vaccines that are widely used around the world.
Experts hope using this tried-and-tested technology has raised hopes that it could reduce the vaccine hesitancy that still dogs the newer, genetically-engineered methods used in the four vaccines currently approved by the EU.
FRANCE BANS UK TRAVEL
France will ban non-essential travel to and from Britain from the weekend to slow the spread of the Omicron Covid-19 variant that is causing record numbers of cases on the other side of the Channel.
From midnight Saturday local time, there will be a “requirement to have an essential reason to travel to, or come from, the UK, both for the unvaccinated and vaccinated … People cannot travel for touristic or professional reasons,” the government said in a statement on Thursday, adding that French citizens and EU nationals could still return to France from the UK.
France said on Tuesday it could tighten border controls to protect against Omicron, which is infecting a huge number of people in Britain.
France currently requires a negative Covid test result less than 48 hours old for arrivals from outside the European Union even if they are vaccinated.
But government spokesman Gabriel Attal on Tuesday said officials were “always looking at how we can strengthen our rules at the border”.
PRINCESS MARY HAS COVID
Tasmanian-born Crown Princess Mary of Denmark has tested positive to Covid-19 amid a concerning spike of cases in the northern European country.
A spokesman for the royal family confirmed the news on Wednesday, Danish time.
“Her Royal Highness is staying in isolation at Frederik VIII’s Palace at Amalienberg. There is no indication that others in the family are infected,” the spokesman said.
“In connection with the test result, the Royal House of Denmark is receiving advice from the Danish Patient Safety Authority concerning detection of infection.
“The Crown Princess will remain in isolation until it is once again safe to end the isolation according to the applicable guidelines.”
The Crown Princess’ case comes as Denmark and neighbouring Norway announced a host of strict Covid measures to battle soaring infection numbers, as the Omicron variant takes hold.
Denmark, which has one of the world’s most sophisticated Covid detection systems, recorded 8314 cases on Tuesday, the highest ever daily case number and more than double their last record which was 4034 last December.
Schools and colleges were this week closed early, while many people were advised to return to remote working.
The country’s booster shot program is being rolled out early, with jabs now available to over 40s – six weeks earlier than planned.
Princess Mary, who was born and raised in Hobart, married Prince Frederik in 2004 after meeting at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. The couple have four children.
Her son Prince Christian tested positive to the virus in December last year.
EU OMICRON FEARS
EU chief Ursula von der Leyen has warned that the Omicron variant of Covid-19 could become dominant in Europe next month, but said her 27-nation bloc had ample vaccines to fight the pandemic.
“If you look at the time it takes for new cases to double in number, it seems to be doubling every two or three days. And that’s massive. We’re told that by mid-January, we should expect Omicron to be the new dominant variant in Europe,” Ms von der Leyen told the European Parliament, pointing to scientific data.
“But over the last year, we’ve worked hard and we’ve achieved a great deal and that is why Europe is in a better position now to fight the virus,” she said.
Ms von der Leyen insisted there were “enough vaccine doses for every European now” as EU countries push to deliver booster jabs to combat the rapidly spreading Omicron variant.
“We’re now in a position to produce 300 million doses of the vaccine per month here in Europe,” she said.
“We have contracts that ensure that we’ll receive vaccines once they’re adapted to the new variant as soon as possible. And we’re told that it’ll take around 100 days to adapt the vaccines we have.” So far, 66.6 per cent of the EU population have had two doses of a Covid-19 vaccine and 62 million had received a third booster jab, she said.
She said that “the most important thing now” is to increase overall vaccination rates, including among children, and the bloc needed to step up the battle to overcome “vaccine scepticism”.
The World Health Organisation this week said Omicron was spreading at an unprecedented rate and that it was “probably” present in most countries.
Since the new, heavily-mutated variant was first detected in southern Africa last month, it has been reported in 77 countries, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters.
The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control in its latest report on Tuesday counted a total 2,127 confirmed Omicron cases in the EU and a handful of partner countries, with the biggest numbers in Denmark, Norway, France, Germany and Belgium.
US PASSES 800K COVID DEATHS
It comes as America, the country hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic, crossed 800,000 Covid-19 deaths, a tracker maintained by Johns Hopkins University showed.
The figure is greater than the entire population of several states, including North Dakota and Alaska.
About 450,000 of the deaths occurred in 2021, despite highly effective vaccines that were first authorised in December 2020 and widely available by springtime.
The vast majority of the deaths in the US, which is now in its fifth wave of the virus, have been among the unvaccinated.
“As we mark the tragic milestone of 800,000 American deaths due to Covid-19, we remember each person and the lives they lived, and we pray for the loved ones left behind,” US President Joe Biden said in a statement.
“To heal, we must remember. We must also act,” he said. “As we head into the winter and confront a new variant, we must resolve to keep fighting this virus together.”
Democrats Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer, who lead the House of Representatives and Senate respectively, as well as House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy and other members of Congress, held a moment of silence on the steps of the Capitol building in Washington DC.
“On this day … we will remember that 800,000 loved ones did not make it this far: a lost father or grandfather, mother or grandmother, a friend, a familiar face in the neighbourhood,” Schumer said in a statement.
“All of us know of someone whom this disease has taken away.”
According to official data, the risk of dying from Covid-19 was 14 times higher among people who had not been fully vaccinated, compared to those who had, in September, the latest month analysed.
US health authorities are urging everyone over 16 to get a booster shot to restore immunity to levels comparable to two doses against earlier strains.
Vaccinations picked up during the fourth wave of the disease, driven by the Delta variant, and more than 60 per cent of the country’s 332 million people are now fully vaccinated — though the United States still lags behind other wealthy nations.
PFIZER VAX OFFERS 70 PER CENT PROTECTION
Meanwhile, two shots of Pfizer’s Covid vaccine offers around 70 per cent protection against severe disease from Omicron, according to results of a study published in South Africa.
The emergence of the highly mutated variant, first detected in South Africa last month, sparked fears that it could cause severe disease, be more contagious or could evade vaccines.
Early indicators suggest that it could be more transmissible, but promising data so far has suggested that vaccines still offer protection against Omicron.
The latest research out of South Africa suggested that two doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine still offered protection against serious illness.
“The double dose of Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine showing 70 per cent effectiveness in reducing risk of hospitalisation,” said Ryan Noach, the head of South Africa’s leading private health insurance company, Discovery, which co-led the study.
Two doses of the vaccine offered 93 per cent protection against earlier variants, according to the companies.
The study was based on the results of 78,000 PCR tests taken in South Africa between November 15 and December 7 and was conducted by Discovery along with the South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC).
“We are extremely encouraged by the results,” said SAMRC head Glenda Gray. But Noach warned that despite the protection offered by two doses, hospitals could still be overrun since Omicron is spreading rapidly in South Africa.
Last week, South Africa approved booster shots for all citizens over 18 as it seeks to stem the rise of new infections.
So far more than 17 million people have been vaccinated in South Africa, or around a third of the country’s population.
The government had initially wanted to vaccinate around 70 per cent of the population by year’s end, but has moved that target to March 2022.
Pfizer/BioNTech has previously said that two shots may not be enough to protect against catching Omicron, though they appeared to be effective against severe disease.
In a preliminary study published last week the companies said a third shot appeared to be effective against the strain.
NZ RETHINKS REOPENING
Thousands of New Zealanders stuck in Australia have been left in limbo after Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern signalled a potential delay in opening borders due to the emergence of the Omicron Covid strain.
During the last sitting week in parliament for the year, the Prime Minister confirmed the rethink with the long awaited reopening – set for January 17 – now subject to a review on either January 7 or 8.
While the Omicron variant is yet to land in New Zealand, Ms Ardern said on Tuesday that the government is keen to keep it out while scientists assess how transmissible and deadly it may be.
“We haven’t changed any decisions at this stage around reconnection … but I think people understand we need to review the latest details and evidence around Omicron,’” Ardern said.
From January 17, New Zealand residents and citizens stranded in Australia are set to be welcomed back into the country where they will be allowed to quarantine at home for seven days – effectively removing the Managed Isolation Quarantine (MIQ) arrangements currently in place for returning Kiwis.
“I won’t pre-empt the outcome of that check in now but it makes sense to ensure we assess the next move against all the latest information and advice we have – including the relative effectiveness of the vaccine against the Omicron variant,” Ms Ardern continued.
“For the second year in a row now we finish with measures that matter, the lowest cases, hospitalisations and deaths in the OECD and an opportunity to have a summer break with comparatively lower rates of Covid-19.”
When probed on the potential backflip on reopening, Ms Ardern told reporters her government hadn’t “changed the timelines“ that were originally set out.
“But it does make sense for us to have that check in before they (NZ arrivals) are due to come in to ensure that we’re still comfortable,“ she said.
“There is nothing on which we can make that decision now.”
Covid-19 Minister Chris Hipkins stated it was ‘very likely’ the nation would proceed with its planned reopening mid-next month, before adding the Omicron strain ’could prove to be a spanner in the works.’
As of Tuesday, 89 per cent of New Zealand residents aged 12 or over are fully vaccinated, and 94 per cent have had at least one dose.
NZ health officials confirmed there were currently 80 community Covid-19 cases, with 62 people in hospital with the virus.
Originally published as Coronavirus world: Covid ‘viral blizzard’ to hit US
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