In this photo taken on April 30, 2021, a healthcare worker vaccinates a woman with the COVID-19 vaccine, as the Pasadena Public Library hosts a mobile vaccine clinic set up by the Harris County Public Health, in Pasadena, Texas. (PHOTO / AFP)
LJUBLJANA / LONDON / GABORONE / DAR ES SALAAM / MADRID / HAVANA / TIRANA / SANTIAGO / RIO DE JANEIRO / LA PAZ / BUENOS AIRES / ADDIS ABABA – Over the course of the pandemic, Texas Children’s Hospital has cared for more than 150 young patients with a rare and sometimes deadly inflammatory condition linked to COVID-19.
The Houston institution is one of more than a dozen children’s hospitals in the state. Yet for all of Texas, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has tallied fewer than 100 cases of children with the condition, called multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children, or MIS-C.
“If our hospital has seen well over 150, then clearly that number is not accurate,” said Lara Shekerdemian, chief of critical care at Texas Children’s. About three-quarters of the kids who suffer from it in her hospital wind up in intensive care, she said.
COVID-19 cases overall are going down in the US, according to the CDC, but data on the life-threatening inflammatory response are less clear cut. The numbers are updated monthly and even then there is a significant lag. The CDC says 3,742 children have been diagnosed with MIS-C in the US since early in the pandemic. That number is likely low — the agency says it’s not performing a comprehensive count.
That’s disquieting news for parents of unvaccinated children under 12 or for those of adolescents who have yet to get their shots. Most MIS-C cases have shown up in children from 5 to 14, with a median age of 9, according to the CDC.
WHO
States that invest too little in public health could have their credit ratings cut, according to the chair of a World Health Organization panel that wants a new global body set up to spell out the risks to financial stability from healthcare failures.
The comments by Mario Monti come before a global health summit on Friday in Rome at which leaders of the Group of 20 richest economies will discuss the coronavirus emergency and how to prevent major health crises in future.
The former Italian prime minister chairs the WHO's Pan-European Commission on Health and Sustainable Development, set up last September by the world health body's chief for Europe, Hans Kluge.
It has recommended the G20 establish a Global Health Board which would work to prevent future pandemics by identifying risks, setting global benchmarks for preparedness and promoting investment in health infrastructure.
The health board would be modelled after the Financial Stability Board, which was created after the 2008 financial crisis and helped steer global regulation to reduce financial and banking risks, Monti said.
To persuade countries to spend more, health threats could be translated into financial risks, as they have been in climate policy, Monti said. Nations that under-invest could then face the risk of having their credit ratings cut.
Cuba
Cuba has recently started immunizing tourism employees against COVID-19 as part of an intervention study of its domestic vaccine candidates, local media reported Monday.
The vaccination roll-out came as the Caribbean nation registered 1,057 new cases and 10 more deaths in the last 24 hours, bringing the national counts to 125, 511 and 814, respectively.
In Havana, the epicenter of COVID-19 on the island, a batch of coach drivers working for a tourism transportation company received the first dose of Abdala COVID-19 vaccine, according to Cuban News Agency.
Health authorities in the western province of Matanzas said that vaccination centers had been set up to inoculate some 5, 900 tourism workers in Varadero, the country's most visited resort.
Tanzania
Experts appointed by Tanzania's new president have declared COVID-19 vaccines to be effective and recommended joining the COVAX facility that shares the inoculations, in the latest sign suggesting official scepticism about the pandemic is waning.
The recommendations by a coronavirus committee formed in April by President Samia Suluhu Hassan were given by the chair of the group at a press conference at State House in Dar es Salaam on Monday.
In its other recommendations, the experts proposed the government publish accurate statistics on the disease and urged that any alternative medicines pass scientific standards.
The recommendations are the latest sign of the government's increasingly proactive approach to tackling the disease following the death in March of President John Magufuli, who downplayed the disease.
Global tally
Coronavirus cases worldwide surpassed 163.65 million while the global death toll topped 3.39 million, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
Germany
Germany will stop restricting coronavirus vaccines to more vulnerable groups from June 7, paving the way for the entire adult population to get free immunizations from that date onwards, Health Minister Jens Spahn said on Monday.
The decision to end the prioritization in Germany’s vaccination campaign does not mean everybody will get vaccinated immediately in June, Spahn said, pointing to ongoing logistical and supply bottlenecks.
But Spahn repeated the government’s pledge that every citizen who wants to get vaccinated should get a COVID-19 shot in the course of the summer.
The minister added that authorities were already discussing when and how to allow COVID-19 vaccinations for adolescents between the ages of 12 and 16.
France
The pressure on French hospitals from the coronavirus epidemic has eased further but two days before France reopens restaurants’ outdoor terraces again, the slowdown in the number of new cases seen in the past two weeks came to a halt.
The health ministry reported 3,350 new cases on Monday – when the case count usually drops due to the weekend – an increase of 1.74 percent compared to last Monday and the same week-on-week as on Sunday, when nearly 14,000 new cases were reported.
In the past five weeks, week-on-week percentage increases have dropped from over six percent mid-April to under two percent last week and an 11-month low of 1.66 percent on Saturday.
The French government closely monitors week-on-week changes in the case tally, which feeds through to hospital and death tallies a few weeks later.
The seven-day moving average of new cases increased slightly to 14,394 on Monday, after falling virtualy without interruption from a 2021 high of over 42,000 per day mid-April.
The daily COVID-19 death tally increased by 196 to nearly 108,000, compared to an increase of 292 last Monday. The seven-day moving average of deaths fell to 161 from 222 a week ago and around 300 mid-April.
ALSO READ: Germany rejects EU executive call to ease virus border curbs
Seychelles
Seychelles, which has vaccinated a greater proportion of its population than any other nation against COVID-19, said it has started offering Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine in addition to the AstraZeneca Plc and Sinopharm shots.
So far 99 percent of the “target population” has been vaccinated with at least a single dose of vaccine and 88 percent have received two doses, the health ministry said in a statement on Monday. Still, Seychelles has seen a surge in cases in recent weeks.
Slovenia
Slovenia further eased its COVID-19 restrictions on Monday as all secondary schools and colleges reopened.
According to a decree issued by the government, secondary schools are allowed to reopen from Monday, which means that all students are schooled in person and can reside in dormitories.
Face masks remain mandatory except for physical education classes, while school staff will be required to undergo weekly coronavirus testing, except for those who have been vaccinated or have recovered.
Slovenia logged 113 new cases on Sunday, taking the national tally to 249,424, according to the National Institute of Public Health.
The number of active cases in the country continued to drop, with the latest official estimate putting the figure at around 7,450, according to Maja Bratusa, government spokesperson on COVID-19.
United States
The head of the World Health Organization hailed news on Monday that US President Joe Biden will send at least 20 million more COVID-19 vaccine doses abroad by the end of June, marking the first time the United States is sharing vaccines authorised for domestic use.
"I welcome @POTUS & 's commitment to donate 80M #COVID19 vaccine doses to countries in need. Your commitment to global health is deeply appreciated! #COVAX partners stand ready to support equitable distribution. Solidarity is the only way to save lives & livelihoods everywhere," WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus wrote on Twitter, referring to the WHO-backed COVAX vaccine distribution platform.
The move marks a notable pivot from the White House as the administration seeks to use the country’s vaccine supply as a diplomatic tool with the pandemic outlook brightening at home.
Biden announced on Monday that his administration will send doses of the Pfizer Inc/BioNTech SE, Moderna Inc and Johnson & Johnson vaccines, on top of 60 million AstraZeneca Plc doses he had already planned to give to other countries.
Unlike the others, AstraZeneca's shot is not yet authorized for use in the United States.
The president has been under pressure to share vaccines to help contain worsening epidemics from India to Brazil, where health experts fear new, more contagious coronavirus variants could undermine the effectiveness of available shots.
Biden noted that no other country will send more vaccines abroad than the United States. So far, the United States has sent a few million AstraZeneca doses to Canada and Mexico.
Botswana
Botswana on Monday reported two cases of COVID-19 B.1.617 variant which was first identified in India.
The two cases were confirmed on May 13 following a case investigation within Greater Gaborone involving people of Indian origin who arrived in the country on April 24, according to a press released from the Ministry of Health and Wellness.
Botswana has so far reported 49,656 cases of COVID-19 infections, with 761 deaths.
Sweden
Sweden, which has shunned lockdowns throughout the pandemic, has seen the number of cases and intensive care patients drop fast in the recent weeks with more than 40 percent of the adult population now having received at least one dose of vaccine.
The Nordic country registered 10,017 new coronavirus cases since Friday, health agency statistics showed on Tuesday, a decline compared to the 13,812 cases reported during the corresponding period last week.
Sweden has experienced a powerful third wave of the virus with the number of people testing positive per capita among the highest in Europe for months, in stark contrast to its Nordic neighbours where infections have remained relatively subdued throughout the pandemic.
However, with over 40 percent percent of the adult population having received at least one shot of vaccine and around 12 percent fully vaccinated, the number of people in intensive care has still fallen more than 30 percent from a peak three weeks ago.
The vaccine roll-out is also credited for deaths being relatively low this year compared to previous waves of the disease with data suggesting no excess mortality so far in 2021.
The country of 10 million inhabitants registered 26 new deaths, taking the total to 14,301. The deaths registered have occurred over several days and sometimes weeks.
Sweden's death rate per capita is many times higher than that of its Nordic neighbors’ but lower than in most European countries that opted for lockdowns.
Spain
A Spanish study on mixing COVID-19 vaccines has found that giving a dose of Pfizer's drug to people who already received a first shot of AstraZeneca vaccine is highly safe and effective, preliminary results showed on Tuesday.
The Combivacs study, run by Spain's state-backed Carlos III Health Institute, found the presence of IgG antibodies in the bloodstream was between 30 and 40 times higher in people who got the follow-up Pfizer shot than in a control group who only received one AstraZeneca dose.
Meanwhile, the presence of neutralising antibodies rose sevenfold after a Pfizer dose, significantly more than the doubling effect observed after a second AstraZeneca shot.
Around 670 volunteers between the ages of 18-59 who had already received a first dose of AstraZeneca's vaccine participated in the study, with some 450 given a Pfizer dose.
Just 1.7 percent of the participants reported severe side effects, which were limited to headaches, muscle pain and general malaise, said Dr Magdalena Campins, one of the study's leaders.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Monday that the mass vaccination of under-50's against COVID-19 would begin in June as the country's vaccine rollout continues to pace up.
According to the Ministry of Health, just over 30 percent of all Spaniards have received at least one dose of vaccine.
Sanchez said that reaching herd immunity against the coronavirus was "the best economic policy to overcome the pandemic," and predicted that immunity (which should be achieved when 70 percent of the population has been vaccinated) would arrive in 93 days in Spain.
He also discussed the "digital green certificate" which aims to allow travelers to visit another country in the EU without the need to quarantine if they have been vaccinated, have a negative test result or have overcome the infection.
ALSO READ: Rising virus cases push Spain's regions to call for tighter curbs
Chile
Chilean Health Minister Enrique Paris announced on Monday that COVID-19 quarantines in 14 communes in the country will be lifted after reporting improved infection indicators.
The official detailed during a press conference that the 14 communes will advance to phase 2 on Thursday, where quarantines will only be enforced on weekends, while restaurants and entertainment centers will be allowed to open at reduced seating capacity during the week.
However, on the same day, nine municipalities will enter quarantine due to an increase in cases in the past weeks, mostly in the southern part of the country.
Brazil
Brazil on Monday reported 786 more deaths from COVID-19, raising the national count to 436,537, the Ministry of Health said.
According to the ministry, Brazil now has a death rate of 208 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants.
Meanwhile, 29,916 more infections were detected, raising the nationwide tally to 15,657,391.
Bolivia
Bolivia's President Luis Arce on Monday called on health authorities to step up the country's mass vaccination campaign with a new shipment of COVID-19 vaccines from Chinese pharmaceutical firm Sinopharm.
"Vaccination in general around the world is not a competition between different nations, but a fight between humanity and COVID-19," said Huang Yazhong, Chinese ambassador to Bolivia, adding that the Chinese government "insists on the idea that the whole world is a community."
Minister of Health and Sports Jeyson Auza said the latest batch of Sinopharm doses will speed up the country's vaccination process, which aims to immunize 100 percent of the "vaccinable" population.
Argentina
Argentina on Monday reported 28,680 COVID-19 infections, bringing the national tally to 3,335,965, said the country's health ministry.
Meanwhile, 505 more related deaths were reported, taking the national death toll to 71,027.
Italy
Italy's government on Monday approved a decree pushing back with immediate effect a nightly coronavirus curfew to 11 pm from 10 pm and easing other curbs in the regions where infections are low.
Prime Minister Mario Draghi's government agreed the curfew would begin at midnight from June 7 and be abolished altogether from June 21 in those areas, a statement said, in line with a plan to gradually relax restrictions across the country.
Italy, which has the second-highest COVID-19 death toll in Europe after Britain, has seen its daily deaths and cases decline in recent weeks, and more people are being vaccinated.
As of Monday, some 8.8 million Italians, or 14.8 percent of the population, have been fully vaccinated, while slightly over 30 percent have received at least one shot.
Italy has registered over 124,000 deaths linked to COVID-19 since its outbreak emerged in February last year. But the daily toll has fallen steadily in recent weeks, with less than 100 fatalities reported on Sunday for the first time since October.
Monday saw an increase to 140 deaths.
Albania
Albania's Health Ministry reported on Monday 17 new coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours, the lowest daily number in one year, raising the country's total tally of confirmed COVID-19 cases to 132,032.
Three COVID-19-related deaths were reported on Monday, taking the total number of fatalities in Albania to 2,435 since the beginning of the pandemic.
However, across the country there are still a total of 4,178 active COVID-19 cases, of which 3,276 cases are in the capital city Tirana.
The vaccination program in Albania is ongoing and around 670,000 people have received the jab, of which over 200,000 people have received both doses, according to Minister of Health and Social Protection Ogerta Manastirliu.
Britain
Authorities have identified 2,323 cases of the Indian strain of coronavirus in the UK, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said, as the highly transmissible new variant spreads.
Speaking in Parliament on Monday, Hancock said 86 different local authority areas had now identified at least five people with the new strain.
Cases have doubled in the past week in Bolton, Blackburn and Darwen in northwestern England and the Indian variant is now the dominant strain of the virus, Hancock said.
Meanwhile, British ministers are considering contingency plans for local lockdowns or a delay to reopening after June 21 in response to concern about the spread of the coronavirus variant first detected in India, The Times newspaper reported on Monday.
The newspaper said businesses in areas subject to the restrictions would receive grants of up to 18,000 pounds (US$25,440) and the scheme would be administered by local authorities, with payments adjusted according to the length of restrictions.
Venezuela
Venezuela's slow rate of vaccination for COVID-19 means it could take up to 10 years for the country to be fully vaccinated, the president of the nation's Academy of Medicine said on Monday.
Venezuela, with about 30 million inhabitants, has received 1.4 million vaccines from China and Russia, according to its health ministry. Authorities hope to receive enough doses for about 5 million people from the World Health Organization's COVAX system.
The government has not announced how many people have received the vaccine.
Venezuela has administered at least 250,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines, with less than 1 percent of the population having received a first dose, according to Reuters vaccine tracker.
Ethiopia
Meanwhile, Ethiopian Airlines announced on Monday evening that it has been vaccinating its employees against COVID-19.
The vaccination, which began on May 14, is being carried out in its temporary vaccination center at Ethiopian Aviation Academy, the Africa's leading airline said in a statement.
Stating that priority will be given to frontline employees with direct contact with customers and partners, the airline said all employees would get the second dose of the vaccine four weeks after receiving the first one.
Meanwhile, Ethiopia registered 382 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, taking the nationwide tally to 266,646 as of Monday evening, according to the country's Ministry of Health.
Meanwhile, 12 new deaths from COVID-19 were reported, bringing the death toll to 4,008, the ministry said.
The East African country reported 1,076 more recoveries, taking the national count to 220,642.
Denmark
Denmark’s lawmakers agreed on the next stage of reopenings as the pandemic remains under control in the Nordic country. All indoor sport activities will be permitted from next week as will all the school activities that hadn’t yet opened already.
The government also said it expects to end its recommendation that people work from home by August, when it also will drop face masks requirements.
South Africa
Hope and excitement gripped the Munsieville care home in the South African mining city of Krugersdorp on Monday, when people over the age of 60 were called to receive the COVID-19 vaccine for the first time.
South Africa's vaccination campaign has suffered a series of setbacks, delaying the point at which it can start protecting its elderly against the coronavirus.
In February, it ditched plans to use AstraZeneca's vaccine because of data showing it had greatly reduced efficacy against the dominant local variant, and it temporarily paused use of Johnson & Johnson's (J&J) vaccine in a research study vaccinating health workers because of concerns over very rare cases of blood clots.
But it recently signed large bilateral supply deals with Pfizer and J&J for a combined 61 million doses and had received the first 1 million Pfizer shots by Monday.
As of Sunday, roughly 480,000 health workers had been given J&J's vaccine in the so-called Sisonke study.
