A pharmacist holds a syringe with BioNTech vaccine at a pharmacy in Duesseldorf, western Germany, on Feb 7, 2022. (INA FASSBENDER / AFP)
GENEVA / ATHENS / BERLIN / SANTIAGO / LONDON / SOFIA – At six months of age, babies born to mothers vaccinated against COVID-19 during pregnancy are more likely to have antibodies against the virus in their blood than babies born to unvaccinated mothers who were infected while pregnant, a small study suggests.
Researchers found detectable levels of immunoglobulin G, the most common antibody in blood, in 57 percent of babies born to vaccinated mothers
Researchers on Monday reported in JAMA on 28 six-month-old infants born to women who were vaccinated with two doses of an mRNA vaccine at 20 to 32 weeks' gestation, when transfer of maternal antibodies to the fetus via the placenta is at its highest, and 12 babies of that age whose mothers were infected during that same time frame. They found detectable levels of immunoglobulin G, the most common antibody in blood, in 57 percent of babies born to vaccinated mothers but in only 8 percent of the babies of infected, unvaccinated mothers.
It is not clear how high antibody levels need to be to protect against infection, and antibodies are not the body's only defense mechanism. But "many interested parties from parents to pediatricians want to know how long maternal antibodies persist in infants after vaccination, and now we can provide some answers," Dr Andrea Edlow of Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston said in a statement. "We hope these findings will provide further incentive for pregnant people to get vaccinated."
A health worker poses with a syringe with dose of a COVID-19 vaccine at the Museum of Tomorrow where adults and children between the ages of five and eleven are being vaccinated against the novel coronavirus in Rio de Janeiro on Jan 18, 2022. (CARL DE SOUZA / AFP)
Brazil
Brazil recorded 66,583 new coronavirus cases and 428 COVID-19 deaths in the last 24 hours, the Health Ministry said on Monday.
Brazil has now registered over 26.6 million cases since the pandemic began, while the official death toll has risen to 632,621, according to ministry data.
Bulgaria
The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Bulgaria reached 1,003,448 after 8,012 new infections were reported in the past 24 hours, the country's health ministry said on Tuesday.
Most of the new and total COVID-19 cases – standing at 1,448 and 258,437, respectively – were registered in the capital city Sofia.
The nationwide death toll rose to 33,946 after 176 patients died from the disease in the last day, while recoveries grew by 5,782 to 707,925.
The ministry also said that 5,671 COVID-19 vaccine doses were administered in Bulgaria in the past 24 hours, taking the total number to 4.21 million.
An elderly man prepares to receive a BioNtech Pfizer COVID-19 jab as a booster, accompanied by his wife, in Santiago on Feb7, 2022. (JAVIER TORRES / AFP)
Chile
The death toll from the COVID-19 pandemic in Chile reached 40,060 on Monday following 73 more deaths in the previous 24 hours, the Health Ministry said.
The ministry said that tests detected 31,063 new infections, bringing the national count to 2,405,672.
The COVID-19 positivity rate stood at a nationwide average of 23.67 percent and 23.33 percent in the Santiago Metropolitan Region, it said.
Health Minister Enrique Paris said he saw "a positive sign" because in some regions the number of new COVID-19 cases was declining.
"The figures are encouraging. We are not saying that we have defeated the pandemic, but last Friday's figure (37,468 daily cases) could be the 'peak' of the pandemic," he said.
A medical worker takes a swab sample of a car driver at a drive-in COVID-19 testing center in Stuttgart, southwestern Germany on Jan 31, 2022 amid the ongoing pandemic. (THOMAS KIENZLE / AFP)
Germany
Several German states are planning to loosen coronavirus restrictions despite rising infections, officials said on Monday, as worries fade about the strain the Omicron variant could put on the health care system.
Germany on Monday reported 95,267 new daily cases, a 22 percent rise compared with the same day last week. However, the seven-day hospitalization rate per 100,000 dropped to 5.4, the lowest in more than two months.
Officials of the southern state of Bavaria said on Monday the state was lifting a night-time curfew on restaurants and ease restrictions on sports and cultural events.
Berlin's neighboring state of Brandenburg is due to decide on Tuesday about easing restrictions in retail, and could allow the unvaccinated to enter some shops with a mask, a spokesperson for the state's government said in a statement.
Other regions, such as Saxony and Schleswig-Holstein announced easing curbs last week.
Leaders of the states could discuss loosening rules in their next meeting on Feb 16, federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach said on Monday, adding that he expected restrictions to be eased well before Easter.
However, Lauterbach cautioned against relaxing measures too quickly, citing Germany's relatively high unvaccinated rate.
"Relaxing to the maximum number of cases now means: I'm pouring oil on the fire," Lauterbach was quoted as saying by Bild newspaper.
A survey by INSA institute published on Sunday showed Germans were divided on the issue. Around 49 percent of Germans are in favor of easing while 44 percent are against it.
Pedestrians wearing face masks as a protection against COVID-19 walk near Kotzia square in the center of Athens on Dec 19, 2021. (ANGELOS TZORTZINIS / AFP)
Greece
As of Monday, the COVID-19 vaccination certificates of 324,000 people in Greece who did not take their booster shot became invalid, the government announced here.
According to current regulations in Greece, the vaccination certificates are valid for 7 months from the day of the second vaccination for those who received the double-dose vaccines, and 3 months for those with single-shot vaccines.
Booster shots may be administered 3 months after a completed vaccination.
Marios Themistocleous, General Secretary of the Primary Health Care at the Greek Ministry of Health, said at a press briefing that these people's vaccination certificates will become valid again until they receive a booster shot.
Greece on Monday reported 18,855 new COVID-19 cases and 109 more deaths, according to the National Public Health Organization.
UK
Consumer spending was 7.4 percent higher than in January 2020
British consumers slowed the pace of their spending last month as the Omicron COVID-19 wave hit fuel sales and kept people away from bars and restaurants, according to a survey which also pointed to the impact of rising inflation.
Consumer spending was 7.4 percent higher than in January 2020 – before the pandemic – the weakest increase since April last year, payments provider Barclaycard said.
It said nine in 10 people it surveyed felt their household finances and discretionary spending were being impacted by the recent jump in prices.
Britain's inflation rate hit a 30-year high of 5.4 percent in December and looks set to top 7 percent in April, according to the Bank of England which last week raised interest rates for the second time in two months and said further increases were likely.
A child receives a dose of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine at an event launching school vaccinations in Los Angeles, California on Nov 5, 2021. (FREDERIC J. BROWN / AFP)
US
The governors of New Jersey, Connecticut and Delaware on Monday said they would lift school mask mandates in the coming weeks, aiming for a return to "normalcy" as a surge in COVID-19 infections fueled by the Omicron variant abates in their states.
The change signals a desire by at least some Democratic state governors, including New Jersey's Phil Murphy and Delaware's John Carney, to take their states off emergency footing and shift toward policies that treat the virus as part of normal life.
By no longer requiring students, teachers and administrators to wear masks in schools, the governors are also seeking to blunt one of the most divisive issues of the pandemic. Republican leaders in some states, including Florida and Texas, have banned mask mandates in schools, while Democrats have generally encouraged the policy to help stall new infections.
In New Jersey, where the number of new cases have decreased over the past two weeks, Murphy announced the state would lift its school mask mandate on March 7.
A picture taken on May 8, 2021 shows a sign of the World Health Organization at the entrance of their headquarters in Geneva amid the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak. (FABRICE COFFRINI / AFP)
WHO
Disruptions in basic health services such as vaccination programs and treatment of diseases like AIDS were reported in 92 percent of 129 countries, a World Health Organization survey on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic showed on Monday.
The survey, conducted in November-December 2021, showed services were "severely impacted" with "little or no improvement" from the previous survey in early 2021, the WHO said in a statement sent to journalists.
"The results of this survey highlight the importance of urgent action to address major health system challenges, recover services and mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic," the WHO said.
Emergency care, which includes ambulance and ER services, actually worsened with 36 percent of countries reporting disruptions versus 29 percent in early 2021 and 21 percent in the first survey in 2020.
Elective operations such as hip and knee replacements were disrupted in 59 percent of the countries and gaps to rehabilitative and palliative care were reported in about half of them.
The survey's timing coincided with surging COVID-19 cases in many countries in late 2021 due to the highly transmissible Omicron variant, piling additional strain on hospitals.
The WHO statement attributed the scale of disruptions to "pre-existing health systems issues" as well as decreased demand for care, without elaborating.
