US, EU, India, South Africa reach compromise on Covid vaccine IP waiver text
The document authorises use of “patented subject matter required for the production and supply of Covid-19 vaccines without the consent of the right holder to the extent necessary to address the Covid-19 pandemic”.
DECEMBER 15: Cases of the heavily mutated variant have been confirmed in 77 countries.
But at a press conference, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said it was probably in many others that had yet to detect it.
Dr Tedros said he was concerned that not enough was being done to tackle the variant.
"Surely, we have learned by now that we underestimate this virus at our peril. Even if Omicron does cause less severe disease, the sheer number of cases could once again overwhelm unprepared health systems," he said.
The Omicron variant was first identified in South Africa in November, and the country has since seen a surge in infections. President Cyril Ramaphosa has tested positive for Covid-19, and is currently isolating with mild symptoms.
A number of countries have introduced travel bans affecting South Africa and its neighbours following the emergence of Omicron, but this has failed to stop it from spreading around the world.
In the press conference on Tuesday, Dr Tedros reiterated concerns about vaccine inequity, as some countries accelerate rollouts of a booster shot in response to Omicron.
Recent studies of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine showed it produced far fewer neutralising antibodies against Omicron than against the original strain, but that this deficit could be reversed by a third, booster, jab.
Dr Tedros said boosters "could play an important role" in curbing the spread of Covid-19, but that it was "a question of prioritisation".
"The order matters. Giving boosters to groups at low risk of severe disease or death simply endangers the lives of those at high risk who are still waiting for their primary doses because of supply constraints," he said.
Supplies to the global vaccine-sharing programme Covax have increased in recent months. But world health officials fear a repeat of a shortfall of tens of millions of doses which occurred in the middle of this year, partly as a result of India suspending exports during a surge in cases there.
In poorer countries, some vulnerable people are yet to receive a single dose.
Nepal detected two new cases of Omicron variant of COVID-19 on Monday. Omicron variant of the virus, first detected in South Africa, is currently spreading rapidly across the globe
Here are some of questions on these, and other related matters:
Is there any evidence that Omicron is any more harmful than any other variant?
Scientists who’ve analysed the variant say they are worried by what they see in the lab. Omicron has more mutations than any other variants and they’re different too.
This could mean it’s more infectious, causes more serious illness and is better at evading vaccines than previous variants.
But none of this is certain. It will take time for the true threat from Omicron to be assessed as cases are detected and monitored across the world.
How do I know if I have the new variant?
Suspected Omicron cases can be detected by PCR tests, which are analysed in a lab. If your Covid symptoms are suspected to be Omicron, you will be contacted by your local contact tracing system.
To confirm whether a suspected swab is Omicron, it needs to be sent to a specialist lab for genomic sequencing.
But by that time, if you’re positive you will be self-isolating. Also, under new guidance, if you have suspected or confirmed Omicron your household and close contacts will have to self-isolate, even if they are fully vaccinated.
Why are we not vaccinating children above the age of five? I keep hearing of young children who have caught the virus.
Young children can be infected with the virus, but they are very unlikely to become seriously ill. Most cases are mild and children recover quickly, particularly young children.
The UK has now advised that children aged over 12 should be offered two doses – but the UK regulator has yet to license any Covid vaccine for younger children.
Even if that happens, as it has in the US, Canada and a number of other countries, the jury is out on whether it’s worthwhile.
Vaccine advisers would have to be convinced that the benefits of vaccinating young children would outweigh any risks (however small) from the vaccines.
But that calculation could all change with fears around Omicron - time will tell.
Is there positive evidence that wearing ordinary masks, not N95 ones, actually makes a useful difference?
Evidence suggests Covid transmission mainly happens indoors where people are close together.
Covering the nose and mouth reduces the spread of coronavirus droplets from coughs, sneezes and while speaking. Routinely wearing one can help reduce virus spread from contagious people who have no symptoms.
The main purpose is to protect others, although there is some evidence they also offer protection to wearers.
To be effective, masks should have a nose wire, contain at least two or three layers of material and fit snugly over the mouth, nose and chin.
Standard surgical masks also work well. It is possible to buy FFP2 and FFP3/N95 masks used by healthcare workers which can offer higher protection. However, these must be fitted correctly to work.
What is this new variant?
Omicron was first identified in South Africa, but cases have been now been found in many other countries, including the UK.
A variant is a slightly altered - or mutated - version of a virus. There are thousands of Covid variants around the world which is to be expected because viruses mutate all the time.
Omicron is strikingly different from many other types of Covid currently in circulation due to the long list of genetic mutations it has undergone.
In particular, there are dozens of changes to the part of the virus targeted by the vaccine - the spike protein.
Will vaccines still work against this variant?
Early signs are that current vaccines might not work quite as well against Omicron.
Scientists in South Africa have detected a surge in the number of people catching Covid multiple times.
This suggests the variant might be better at sidestepping some of the protection offered by vaccines or past infection.
However, this is still not definitive proof, and even if Omicron is more infectious, there is no evidence as yet that it causes more serious illness.
As with other Covid variants, the risk remains highest for people who are elderly or have significant underlying health conditions.
But even so, if a variant is more infectious it will lead to more deaths in an unvaccinated population.
Why do variants occur?
Viruses make carbon copies of themselves to reproduce but they aren't perfect at it. Errors can creep in that change the genetic blueprint, resulting in a new version of the virus - in other words, a variant.
If this gives the virus a survival advantage, the new version will thrive.
The more chances coronavirus has to make copies of itself in us - the host - the more opportunities there are for mutations to occur.
That's why keeping infections down is important. Vaccines help by cutting transmission as well as protecting against serious Covid illness.
Experts say it is possible that the new highly altered variant B.1.1.529 may have originated in a patient whose immune system was unable to get rid of a Covid infection quickly, giving the virus more time to morph.
U.S. President Joe Biden announced Tuesday that all American adults will be eligible for COVID-19 vaccine by April 19.
Biden announced the new timetable after his visit to a vaccination site in Alexandria, Virginia, moving up his original deadline of May 1 by nearly two weeks.
Biden said that 150 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered within his first 75 days in office, in line with a stated goal of 200 million shots by his 100th day in office.
He urged Americans to continue to practice pandemic safety measures, saying the country is not "at the finish line yet" and may experience more "disease and misery" before July 4.
A few weeks ago, Biden called on states, tribes and territories to make all U.S. adults eligible for vaccination no later than May 1.
Biden has stressed that while the country is now vaccinating a record number of Americans, the battle against COVID-19 is "far from won" as cases are once again on the rise.
The country has seen a rise in new cases in 27 states, including cases from new and emerging COVID-19 variants. Currently, the seven-day average of new COVID-19 cases is about 61,000 cases a day, a 10 percent increase over the previous period, according to the latest data of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Biden has called on every governor, mayor and local leader to maintain -- and in some cases reinstate -- mask mandates.
Some states' governors have lifted requirements for masks and allowed businesses to reopen to full capacity against warnings from public health experts.
Highly contagious variants are rapidly spreading in the United States, threatening to outpace the vaccination efforts.
Last week, CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said B.1.1.7, the variant first identified in Britain, is starting to become the predominant strain in many regions of the United States, accounting for 26 percent of COVID-19 cases circulating across the nation.
The country has recorded more than 17,000 infection cases of coronavirus variants as of Tuesday, according to the latest data of the CDC.
Among these cases, 16,275 cases were caused by B.1.1.7. There were 386 cases of a new strain initially discovered in South Africa, called B.1.351, and 356 cases of the P.1 strain first discovered in Brazil.
In addition, the B.1.427 and B.1.429 variants, two coronavirus strains first detected in California, are also being closely monitored by the CDC.
About 168 million COVID-19 vaccine shots have been administered as of Tuesday, while more than 219 million COVID-19 vaccine doses have been distributed across the country, CDC data show.
Restrictions on exporting its Covid vaccines have left India's Serum Institute needing financial help from the government, its CEO said, with the world's largest jab manufacturer under pressure at home from soaring cases.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government last month put the brakes on exports of AstraZeneca jabs made by the Serum Institute of India (SII) as the nation of 1.3 billion people experienced an alarming new wave of infections.
The pressure has meant production capacity at SII is "very stressed, to put it quite frankly", the firm's CEO Adar Poonawalla told NDTV late Tuesday.
"The globe needs this vaccine and we are prioritising the needs of India at the moment and we are still short of being able to supply... to every Indian that needs it."
The company now requires additional funding of 30 billion rupees ($408 million) to ramp up capacity and has asked the government for financial help, he added.
"This was never budgeted or planned initially because we were supposed to export and get the funding from export countries but now that that is not happening, we have to find other innovative ways to build our capacity," Poonawalla said.
SII, which produces over two million doses of Covishield -- the local name for the AstraZeneca vaccine -- a day, is providing the jab at a subsidised rate of around 150 rupees to India, significantly less than what it charges for exports.
"The price that is set is profitable, however it is not profitable enough to re-invest substantially in building capacity," Poonawalla said.
SII -- which recorded annual revenues of over $800 million in 2019-20 -- has seen its profile soar since the pandemic, with several countries including Britain, Brazil and South Africa clamouring to buy its vaccine.
The firm has also struck a deal to supply 200 million doses to Covax, a World Health Organization-backed effort to procure and distribute inoculations to poor countries.
The country began vaccinating people aged over 45 last week, aiming to inoculate 300 million people by August. So far it has administered around 87 million shots.
India recorded over 100,000 cases in a single day for the first time on Monday, with New Delhi and other cities imposing new curbs on movement and public gatherings in response to the spike.
