People stand in line to get a jab in a COVID-19 vaccination bus is seen in Riga, Latvia, on Oct 21, 2021, the day the new one-month-long lockdown starts.
(GINTS IVUSKANS / AFP)
MADRID / LONDON / LJUBLJANA / GENEVA / LISBON / VIENNA / JOHANNESBURG / QUITO / PARIS / BERLIN / ABUJA / FRANKFURT / COPENHAGEN / BRUSSELS – The European Union needs daily reviews of its travel restrictions and rapid deployment of vaccine booster doses to limit entry and protect its citizens from the Omicron variant of the coronavirus, the European Commission said on Wednesday.
Europe is experiencing a surge of COVID-19 cases and a growing number of infections by the Omicron variant that the World Health Organization has labeled a variant of concern and that has concerned scientists due to its multiple mutations.
"We are facing at the moment a severe double challenge," European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told a news conference. "On one hand, we are amid the fourth wave… On the other hand, we are facing a new threat that is the new variant Omicron."
The EU executive said that its 27 EU members needed to step up vaccination campaigns, with some 66 percent of the total EU population now inoculated. Vaccines for children between five and 11 will be eligible to receive vaccines from Dec 13.
Von der Leyen also said that, with BionTech/Pfizer and Moderna set to deliver 360 million more doses by the end of March, there were boosters available to all those that had received their initial shots.
"That is good news. So go get it," she said.
She added she had understood from drugmakers that they would require around 100 days to adjust their vaccines if their existing vaccines did not protect from the Omicron variant.
Most EU countries have imposed travel bans for residents of South Africa, where the Omicron was first detected, along with surrounding southern African countries.
The Commission also urged EU members to commit to a day-by-day review of travel restrictions and a readiness to impose all necessary controls, including decisive action if clusters of the Omicron variant were found.
People crowd a Christmas market in Vienna, Austria on Nov 21, 2021. The Austrian government announced a nationwide lockdown that will start Monday and comes as average daily deaths have tripled in recent weeks and hospitals in heavily hit states have warned that intensive care units are reaching capacity. (VADIM GHIRDA / AP)
Austria
An Austrian parliamentary committee on Tuesday, as widely expected, approved a decree extending the country's COVID-19 lockdown by 10 days, bringing its total duration to 20 days, which the government has said is the longest it will last.
Faced with surging daily coronavirus infections, the conservative-led government introduced the lockdown on Monday of last week, the first country in Western Europe to reimpose a lockdown this autumn.
Roughly 67 percent of Austria's population is fully vaccinated against the coronavirus, one of the lowest rates in Western Europe. Many Austrians are sceptical about vaccines, a view encouraged by the far-right Freedom Party, the third biggest in parliament.
New daily infections have fallen below 9,000 from a peak above 15,000 the week before the lockdown began. Tuesday's figure of 8,186 is still only slightly below the previous peak of 9,586 set in November of last year, when vaccines were not available and a national lockdown was imposed.
Austria's total confirmed death toll from COVID-19 is 12,492.
The main committee of Austria's lower house of parliament, which is responsible for vetting certain major government decisions, approved the lockdown extension through Dec. 11, parliament said in a statement.
A medical staff member prepares a syringe with a dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech (Comirnaty) COVID-19 vaccine, in the Lyon Gerland vaccination center, on Nov 27, 2021. (JEFF PACHOUD / AFP)
BioNTech
The Omicron variant of the coronavirus could lead to more infections among vaccinated people, but they will most likely remain protected from a severe course of illness, Dow Jones reported, based on an interview with the inventor of one of the first COVID-19 vaccines.
While the new variant might evade the antibodies generated in reaction to the vaccine, the virus will likely remain vulnerable to immune cells that destroy it once it enters the body, BioNTech SE co-founder Ugur Sahin said.
Brazil
Brazil detected two cases of the Omicron variant in preliminary testing, the first cases of the new strain confirmed in Latin America.
The variant was spotted in samples from a traveler who had recently arrived from South Africa and his wife, health watchdog Anvisa said in a note on Tuesday. The tests will be repeated for further confirmation, it said, giving no further information about the patients.
Earlier on Tuesday, O Globo newspaper reported a woman recently arrived from the Democratic Republic of the Congo tested positive for COVID-19 and was hospitalized in the state of Minas Gerais.
Countries including Brazil tightened travel restrictions over the past few days amid news of the new variant.
ALSO READ: UN agency: Travel bans to stop Omicron spread a 'mistake'
In this file photo taken on May 15, 2021, people wait for their COVID-19 vaccine inside the International Conference Center during Peel Region's "Doses After Dark" overnight COVID-19 vaccination clinic in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. (COLE BURSTON / AFP)
Canada
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government tightened travel restrictions meant to contain the spread of the omicron variant of COVID-19 as Canada identifies more suspected cases already in the country.
The government will now require all air travelers into Canada – from countries other than the US – to test at the airport, whether they are vaccinated or not, Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos said Tuesday at a press conference.
Canada is also considering new testing rules for travelers from the US by both land and air if needed.
“These rules have always changed over the last 20 months and will continue to change as the situation evolves,” Duclos said.
Foreign nationals who have recently been in Nigeria, Egypt and Malawi were added to the list of travelers banned from entering Canada. The move comes after travel from an initial seven southern African countries was restricted last week.
Canada confirmed its first two cases of the variant over the weekend, both in Ottawa and connected to travelers from Nigeria. Another two cases have been reported in Ontario, as well as one in Quebec and another in Alberta.
Separately, the government said on Tuesday it was in advanced talks with Pfizer Inc and Merck & Co Inc regarding a purchase agreement for COVID-19 antiviral drugs.
Denmark
Denmark reported a record number of new daily coronavirus infections on Wednesday, data from the country's Serum Institute showed.
The Nordic country, which has already confirmed some cases of the new Omicron variant, reported 5,120 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday. That accounts for 2.6 percent of the total number tested during the 24-hour period.
The number of hospitalizations and deaths remain well below a peak of a year ago, thanks to vaccines.
Immediately following the announcement, Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen called a news briefing for 1700 GMT to update on vaccination efforts and the spread of Omicron.
Meanwhile, a person infected with the new Omicron coronavirus variant participated in a large concert on Saturday, the Danish Patient Safety Authority said on Wednesday.
The person was one of 1,600 people attending a concert with Danish DJ Martin Jensen in the northern city of Aalborg on Saturday.
Residents wait to be vaccinated against COVID-19 in Guayaquil, Ecuador, July 22, 2021. (DOLORES OCHOA / AP)
Ecuador
Ecuador's foreign ministry said on Tuesday that it would keep the country's border with Peru closed in an effort to stop the spread of the coronavirus' Omicron variant.
Peru announced that as of Dec 1, it would open its land border for residents and non-residents coming from Ecuador and Chile, complying with the protocols of the country's health authority.
"The Ecuadorian foreign ministry reiterates the decision to keep the land border with Peru closed, as a prevention and control response to the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic and its new variants," the ministry said in a statement.
"The country's authorities maintain frequent communication with their Peruvian counterparts, so that the reopening of the borders is carried out gradually and in an orderly manner," it added.
Ecuadorian President Guillermo Lasso announced on Monday night that he plans to gradually open the border with Colombia starting Wednesday, allowing cargo and commercial goods to cross.
Ecuador has accelerated its plans to dole out booster vaccine shots given the omicron variant's advance through several countries.
The booster shots, scheduled to start on January 1, 2022, will now begin being distributed Dec 1, Health Minister Ximena Garzon told reporters.
By the end of December Ecuador hopes to vaccinate 85% of its population, including minors from the age of five.
In this file photo taken on Nov 09, 2021 a member of the medical team fills a syringe with the vaccine of BioNtech/Pfizer in a COVID-19 vaccination station in Stuttgart, southern Germany, amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
European Union
The European Union-wide rollout of Pfizer and BioNTech's COVID-19 vaccine version for five- to 11-year-old children will begin Dec 13, one week earlier than previously planned, Germany's health ministry said on Wednesday.
"Given the current pandemic situation, this is good news for parents and children. Many are awaiting this eagerly," acting health minister Jens Spahn said in the statement.
A BioNTech spokesperson confirmed the earlier launch, adding it was contingent on the production batch passing quality control checks early next week.
The rollout will be brought forward without an impact on agreed delivery volumes thanks to "a massive effort including weekend work" on the part of Pfizer and BioNTech staff, the company added.
In another development, the European Union is set to recommend that member states review essential travel restrictions on a daily basis in the wake of the omicron variant, according to a draft EU document seen by Bloomberg.
Member states should pursue a coordinated approach and be prepared to impose any required controls, according to the document.
The bloc’s executive arm will also call on national governments to rapidly deploy booster shots and quickly implement proposals to limit the validity of the EU’s digital vaccine certificate to nine months without a booster.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and EU health commissioner Stella Kyriakides are scheduled to speak at a press conference later Wednesday about the latest developments around COVID-19.
European governments should put in place targeted and proportionate precautions and restrictions to limit the spread of the virus, the document says. The draft recommendations could change before they are expected to be announced on Wednesday.
The bloc will also pledge to accelerate its efforts to share vaccines worldwide in order to achieve the global vaccination target of 70 percent in 2022, which was agreed at the Group of 20 summit in October.
Finland
Finland is set to mandate social and health-care staff to take vaccinations against the coronavirus and plans to widen the use of COVID-19 passports beyond bars and restaurants, Krista Kiuru, the minister overseeing the pandemic response efforts, told reporters in Helsinki on Tuesday.
The government also told regional authorities to boost test-and-trace efforts and to recommend remote work in areas where the virus is spreading, she said.
Finland has already ordered bars to stop alcohol sales at 5 pm starting Nov 28 unless they require customers to present a COVID-19 passport, and the Helsinki region last week recommended a return to remote work as well as widespread mask use.
Protesters take part in a demonstration in front of the Prefecture of Martinique in Fort-de-France, during a meeting of French Overseas Minister with trade union representatives, on the French Caribbean island of Martinique, on Nov 30, 2021, after days of violent protests sparked by COVID-19 restrictions and social grievances. (ALAIN JOCARD / AFP)
France
Police reinforcements arrived in the French Caribbean territory of Martinique on Tuesday to restore order after unrest that erupted over COVID-19 measures, in particular the mandatory vaccination of healthcare workers, a government minister said.
Martinique, and before it the nearby island of Guadeloupe, has seen several days of protests against COVID-19 measures that spilled over into violence.
Sebastien Lecornu, the minister for France's overseas territories, said 70 gendarmes had arrived earlier in the day, in addition to two squadrons that were deployed from metropolitan France unannounced, to help clear road blocks.
"Social dialogue is not possible without a sound basis and that sound basis is the re-establishment of freedoms … and our capacity to re-establish order," Lecornu told a press conference in Martinique after meeting its leaders and trade unions.
Intensive care nurses treat patients severely ill with COVID-19 in the Corona intensive care unit at the University Hospital in Halle/Saale on Nov 22, 2021. (HENDRIK SCHMIDT / DPA VIA AP)
Germany
Germany reported the highest number of deaths from coronavirus since mid-February on Wednesday as hospitals warned that the country could have 6,000 people in intensive care by Christmas, above the peak of last winter.
The Robert Koch Institute, Germany's state infectious disease agency, reported 67,186 new cases on Wednesday, up 302 from a week ago, and 446 deaths – the highest daily figure since Feb 18, bringing the overall death toll to 101,790.
However, the seven-day incidence rate per 100,000 fell for a second day to 442.9 people, from 452.2 people on Tuesday.
Germany's federal and regional governments agreed on Tuesday to take action to counter the fourth wave of COVID-19, including stepping up the vaccination campaign and restricting contact, especially for unvaccinated people.
Already criticized by scientists for acting too late, the leaders agreed to take firm decisions on Thursday on proposals such as forcing customers to show proof of vaccination or recovery in shops and limiting numbers of people at big events.
Four people in southern Germany have tested positive for the Omicron COVID-19 variant even though they were fully vaccinated against the coronavirus, the public health office in the state of Baden-Wuerttemberg said.
Three of the infected people returned from a business trip to South Africa on Nov. 26 and Nov. 27 respectively, and the fourth person is a family member of one of the returnees. All four showed moderate symptoms.
Ireland
Ireland will require all people arriving from abroad to provide a negative COVID-19 test from Friday, including those arriving from Great Britain, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Travelers arriving into Ireland must provide a negative PCR test taken no more than 72 hours before travel or a negative antigen test taken no more than 48 hours ahead, said the person, who asked not to be named as the information is not yet public.
Unvaccinated people must provide a PCR test, they said. A formal announcement may come later today.
The move to require all arrivals to provide a test comes even though Ireland and the UK as a whole are part of the common travel area which allows passport free travel between those jurisdictions.
The UK recently exempted Ireland from its own plan to require travelers to self-isolate and test negative for the coronavirus on arrival.
This undated file image provided by Merck and Co shows their new antiviral medication molnupiravir. (MERCK AND CO VIA AP)
Merck & Co’s COVID-19 pill
Merck & Co’s COVID-19 pill gained a key recommendation from advisers to US regulators, increasing the likelihood that the treatment for high-risk patients will be cleared for use in the US.
The Food and Drug Administration’s advisory committee voted 13-10 to back Merck’s anti-viral drug molnupiravir, saying the benefits outweigh the risks.
The pill is intended to treat mild-to-moderate COVID-19 in adults at risk of developing severe illness. Merck developed the treatment with partner Ridgeback Biotherapeutics LP.
The decision comes amid rising concerns about a new coronavirus variant that is described by scientists as different from previous incarnations and potentially of serious concern. Pfizer Inc and partner BioNTech SE, Moderna Inc and Johnson & Johnson are working to adapt their COVID-19 vaccines to address the omicron variant.
The FDA is not obligated to follow the recommendations of the panel, called the Antimicrobial Drugs Advisory Committee, though it typically does. A decision from the agency on whether to clear the pill could come soon after the meeting concludes on Tuesday.
The pill could be a game-changer in the fight against the pandemic by turning COVID-19 into an illness that is easily treated outside of a hospital setting. That may relieve the strain on health systems stretched thin by staffing shortages and rising infection levels.
Unlike other COVID-19 antivirals that are administered via intravenous infusion usually in hospitals or clinics, a five-day course of molnupiravir can be taken by patients at home.
Regulators have already allowed Merck’s pill to be used in emergency treatment of adults in the European Union. It hasn’t been formally authorized for sale.
Nigeria
Nigeria confirmed its first cases of the Omicron COVID-19 variant among two travellers who arrived from South Africa last week, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) said on Wednesday.
The NCDC also said retrospective sequencing of previously confirmed cases among travellers to Nigeria had identified the variant among a sample collected in October. It did not give details.
"Given the highly likely increased transmissibility of the Omicron variant, it is imperative to put in place measures to curb community transmission," NCDC said in a statement.
An elderly couple wearing protective face masks against COVID-19 walks past the Pfizer Inc headquarters on Dec 9, 2020 in New York City. (ANGELA WEISS / AFP)
Pfizer
Pfizer Inc's Chief Executive Officer Albert Bourla said on Tuesday the company has submitted a request to the US Food and Drug Administration seeking the authorization for its COVID-19 booster doses for use in 16- and 17-year olds.
If given the go-ahead, Pfizer's booster vaccine will be the first to be cleared for use in the younger age group.
The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday that the FDA could approve Pfizer's booster doses for 16- and 17-year olds as soon as next week.
Portugal
A large hospital near Lisbon, the Portuguese capital, said on Tuesday it has temporarily shut two of its pediatric departments after a health worker, who is also the doctor for a COVID-hit soccer team, tested positive for the Omicron variant of the coronavirus.
The Garcia de Orta hospital in Almada, a city on the other side of the River Tagus from Lisbon, said the pediatric emergency and outpatient departments would close from 10 pm on Tuesday for a period of 14 days.
In a statement, the hospital said all those who were in contact with the infected health worker, a total of 28 people, were now in isolation and being monitored.
Portuguese health authorities detected on Monday 13 cases of the Omicron variant, all involving players and staff of top division soccer club Belenenses SAD, one of whose players recently returned from South Africa.
A Belenenses SAD spokesman told Reuters that the health worker infected with the Omicron variant at the Garcia de Orta hospital was also the doctor of the Belenenses SAD squad.
ALSO READ: WHO: Omicron poses 'very high' global risk, nations must prepare
Slovenia
In Slovenia, a committee of experts confirmed that the death in September of a 20-year-old woman was linked to Janssen's COVID-19 vaccine, an official said here on Tuesday.
Zoran Simonovic of the National Institute of Public Health told a news conference that the committee of five experts "unanimously assessed that in this case there is a definite relation between Johnson & Johnson's Janssen vaccine and the tragic complication."
The woman died 13 days after receiving the vaccine because she developed "thrombosis with thrombocytopenia," according to a statement issued by the government.
As a consequence, on Sept 29 the Ministry of Health decided to stop using the Janssen vaccine, and on Oct 12 it recommended the priority use of mRNA (messenger ribonucleic acid) vaccines against COVID-19, such as those produced by Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna.
A member of staff checks the European COVID-19 passport on a woman's phone at a restaurant, in Pamplona, northern Spain on Nov 29, 2021. (ALVARO BARRIENTOS / AP)
Spain
Spain's Health Minister Carolina Darias said on Tuesday that vaccines to protect children aged between 5 and 11 against COVID-19 will arrive in Spain in the second half of December.
In an interview with local radio station Cadena SER, Darias explained that although the European Medicines Agency (EMA) last week gave the go-ahead for the vaccination of this age group, it still has to be approved by Spain's Public Health Commission.
"The incidence of the virus is currently the highest in children, standing at 230 cases per 100,000," she said.
Darias also confirmed that a 51-year-old man who returned to Spain from South Africa was the first case of the Omicron variant in Spain.
"He has mild symptoms," she said, adding that another couple who had landed in Barcelona with suspected Omicron variant were undergoing tests and were currently "fine."
Switzerland
Switzerland is considering reintroducing a work-from-home mandate as part of policies to tackle the latest wave of the coronavirus.
The government is in talks with regional authorities on a number of options, including forcing the unvaccinated to work from home. Another option is to require workers in indoor settings to wear masks.
Authorities may increase the use of the COVID-19 certificate, which shows if someone has been vaccinated, tested or recovered.
Also up for debate is reducing the number of people allowed at private gatherings without a certificate and cutting the time period under which COVID-19 tests are valid to 24 hours, in the case of rapid antigen tests. Any measure should end on Jan 24.
UK
British Health Secretary Sajid Javid urged people to book a COVID-19 booster shot on Wednesday as he said there were 22 confirmed cases of the Omicron virus variant in the country.
Javid said the government believed a booster campaign would help protect against severe disease from Omicron, even if it turns out that vaccines are not as effective against the variant as previous strains of the disease.
He said he hoped to know more about Omicron within two weeks, as scientists work to understand what impact the new variant will have on transmissibility and serious disease.
"At this point in time the case numbers are very low," Javid told Sky News. "For the UK we've got 22 confirmed cases at the moment and that will go up, it will certainly go up."
Britain plans to offer all adults a COVID-19 booster shot by the end of January. Government data shows 81 percent of the population aged over 12 have had two doses of the vaccine while 32 percent have had a booster shot or third dose.
"Our best form of defence still remains our vaccines," Javid said. "It's possible of course, it's possible that it might be less effective. We just don't know for sure yet. But it's also very likely that it will remain effective against serious disease."
A traveler adjusts his face mask as he walks through the arrivals area at the Los Angeles International Airport in Los Angeles on Nov 30, 2021. (JAE C. HONG / AP)
United States
The Biden administration plans to tighten travel rules to combat the omicron variant of the coronavirus, by requiring all air travelers to the US to be tested within a day of their departure regardless of vaccination status, according to a person familiar with the matter.
President Joe Biden plans to announce the new requirements on Thursday in a speech detailing his plan to contain the pandemic through the winter.
Currently, vaccinated travelers must get tested within three days of boarding their flight to the US; under the change, that would be cut to one day.
The US last week imposed travel restrictions that bar arrivals from foreign nationals who have been in any of eight southern African nations in the past 14 days. The administration hasn’t said how long those measures will be in place.
The Washington Post earlier reported the administration’s plans for tightening travel restrictions.
The administration isn’t considering tightening rules on what type of test is required for entry to the US. The administration has only imposed requirements for rapid antigen tests, which may be less effective at detecting cases of the omicron variant.
Earlier Tuesday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director, Rochelle Walensky, said the agency was looking into measures such as narrowing the testing window for travelers into the country and adding quarantine requirements in certain cases.
The CDC, she added in a call with reporters, was also expanding surveillance programs at four major airports to test for COVID-19 from specific international arrivals.
“As we have done throughout the pandemic, CDC is evaluating how to make international travel as safe as possible,” she said on the call.
This photograph taken on March 5, 2021 shows the flag of the World Health Organization (WHO) at their headquarters in Geneva amid the COVID-19 outbreak. (FABRICE COFFRINI / AFP)
WHO
The World Health Organization agreed on Wednesday to launch negotiations on an international pact to prevent and control future pandemics at a time when the world is gearing up to battle the new Omicron variant of coronavirus.
Such an agreement to beef up measures against pandemics is expected to be ready in May 2024, covering issues from data sharing and genome sequencing of emerging viruses to equitable distribution of vaccines and drugs derived from research.
"The adoption of this decision is cause for celebration and a cause for hope that we all need," WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told the meeting of health ministers.
"Of course there is still a long road ahead. There are still differences of opinion about what a new accord could or should contain," he said, calling for continued cooperation.
In the meantime, countries should abide by the WHO's 2005 International Health Regulations, he said.
The decision, entitled "The World Together", was adopted by consensus at a special assembly of the 194 nations that are members of the UN health body, drawing applause at the end of a three-day meeting.
"The text before us is the product of extensive discussions, of frank exchanges and of compromises," said Australia's ambassador Sally Mansfield, who co-chaired the working group.
The European Union had pushed for agreement on an international legally binding treaty, along with about 70 countries, but Brazil, India and the United States were among those reluctant to commit to a treaty, diplomats said.
"We call for an ambitious process in developing this treaty – let us all demonstrate our multilateral commitment and engagement towards a binding instrument," Ambassador Lotte Knudsen, head of the EU delegation to the United Nations in Geneva, said in a statement on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, the WHO said countries should apply "an evidence-informed and risk-based approach" with any travel measures related to the Omicron variant of the coronavirus, including possible screening or quarantine of international passengers, but blanket bans do not prevent its spread.
National authorities in countries of departure, transit and arrival may apply a multi-layered approach to mitigate risk so as to delay or reduce importation or exportation of the Omicron variant, the WHO said on Tuesday.
"Measures may include screening of passengers prior to travel and/or upon arrival, and use of SARS-COV-2 testing or quarantine of international travelers after thorough risk assessment," it said.
