A demonstrator holds a sign during a protest against mandates related to COVID-19 vaccines and restrictions in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada on Feb 5, 2022. (GEOFF ROBINS / AFP)
NEW YORK/ BERLIN / WASHINGTON / KAMPALA / OTTAWA / Warsaw / ACCRA – The busiest land crossing from the United States to Canada remained shut on Tuesday after Canadian truckers blocked lanes on Monday to protest their government's pandemic control measures.
While traffic in both directions was initially blocked, US-bound lanes have since reopened, Windsor Police tweeted. Canadian police also said late on Tuesday another border crossing at Coutts, Alberta, had been shut down by protesters for inbound and outbound traffic.
Since Sunday night, police have started slowly taking back control, seizing thousands of liters of fuel and removing an oil tanker truck
Drivers demanding an end to federal COVID-19 vaccine mandates for cross-border traffic began blocking the streets of Canada's capital, Ottawa on Jan 28. Since Sunday night, police have started slowly taking back control, seizing thousands of liters of fuel and removing an oil tanker truck.
Ottawa Deputy Police Chief Steve Bell told reporters on Tuesday that police have immobilized many of the heavy vehicles taking part in the blockade. He said about a quarter of the 418 protest vehicles in the downtown have children in them, and police are concerned for their welfare in relation to cold, noise, carbon monoxide risks and access to sanitation.
Canada's Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino told reporters that he had been in touch with the mayor of Windsor and local legislators about the blockade at the Ambassador Bridge, connecting Detroit, Michigan, with Windsor, Ontario.
"We will continue to work…so that we can keep the supply chains moving across the Ambassador Bridge, as well as the wheels of our economy turning," he said.
Canada sends 75 percent of its exports to the United States, and the bridge usually handles around 8,000 trucks a day.
"It is clear these disruptions have broadened in scope beyond the vaccine requirement implementation," White House press secretary Jen Psaki said. "We are of course in touch with our Canadian counterparts" on the blockade, Psaki added.
The owner of the bridge, the Detroit International Bridge Co, said international commerce on the bridge needed to resume as quickly as possible in a manner that reflects mutual respect, the company's chairman, Matt Moroun, said in a statement.
The president of the Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers' Association called for an immediate end to the blockade, saying "persistent delays at the Ambassador Bridge risk disrupting automotive production that employs tens of thousands of Canadians."
ALSO READ: US expects grim scenario amid new wave of COVID-19
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau appeared in public on Monday for the first time in more than a week after being infected with COVID-19, saying the protest had to stop. Trudeau reiterated on Tuesday that "we're going to continue to follow the science" when interim Conservative leader Candice Bergen asked Trudeau in parliament whether he will follow the science and end the restrictions quickly.
Trudeau has denounced the demonstrators' tactics but one of his Liberal Party colleagues has broken rank on the government's hardline stance on vaccine mandates. Joel Lightbound called on the government to move away from divisive politics and present a clear roadmap for lifting pandemic restrictions.
A man enters a NHS COVID-19 vaccination center in Westfield Stratford City shopping center in east London on Feb 15, 2021. (TOLGA AKMEN / AFP)
COVID-19 global tally
Global COVID-19 cases surpassed 400 million on Tuesday, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
The global case count amounted to 400,244,031, with 5,761,208 deaths worldwide, as of 5:21 pm local time, showed the data
The global case count amounted to 400,244,031, with 5,761,208 deaths worldwide, as of 5:21 pm local time, showed the data.
The United States reported 77,025,027 cases and 908,262 deaths, both the highest counts around the world, accounting for more than 19 percent of the global cases and more than 15 percent of the global deaths.
India recorded the world's second largest caseload of 42,339,611, followed by Brazil with 26,776,692 cases as well as the world's second largest death toll of 634,057.
Countries with more than 12 million cases also include France, Britain, Russia and Turkey, while other countries with over 200,000 deaths include India, Russia, Mexico and Peru, according to the university's tally.
The global caseload reached the grim milestone of 100 million on Jan 26, 2021, rose to 200 million on Aug 4 and exceeded 300 million on Jan 6, 2022.
In this file photo a bottle reading "Vaccine COVID-19" next to US pharmaceutical company Pfizer and German biotechnology company BioNTech logos is viewed on Nov 23, 2020. (JOEL SAGET / AFP)
EU
The European Union's drug regulator launched a review to evaluate whether the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine can be used as a third booster shot in adolescents aged 12 to 15, even after several countries in the region have already started such a campaign.
In its statement on Tuesday, the European Medicines Agency added that a review of booster shots given to 16- and 17-year-oldteenagers was ongoing.
Germany's vaccine committee last month recommended that all children between the ages of 12 and 17 receive a booster, following the initial two-shot course, as infection rates continue to soar among youngsters in particular. Other states in the region followed suit.
EMA added on Tuesday that "advice on how vaccinations should be given remains the prerogative" of member states' advisory groups.
The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control said in a separate report on Tuesday that findings so far suggest an increase of vaccine effectiveness against infection in adolescents who received a booster compared to adolescents who have recently completed the primary vaccination course.
It added, however, that no data was yet available on the duration of protection from a booster dose and on the additional effectiveness against severe disease.
The ECDC said 10 countries in the European Economic Area, which comprises the 27 EU member states plus Liechtenstein, Iceland and Norway, had already recommended a booster dose for those under 18 years of age.
In this file photo taken on Dec 2, 2020, a woman wearing a face mask walks past an advertising billboard reading: "Berliners, wear whatever you want, as long as you wear a mask" amid the COVID-19 pandemic in Berlin. (JOHN MACDOUGALL / AFP)
Germany
As Germany heads towards the peak of its Omicron wave, Minister of Health Karl Lauterbach has warned against easing COVID-19 restrictions too soon.
"The situation is not really under control yet," Lauterbach said at a press conference on Tuesday. "The current discussion in Germany about easing restrictions is "out of place."
Lauterbach expects the Omicron wave to peak in Germany in around one to two weeks. Scrapping essential COVID-19 measures now "would significantly extend the wave," he said.
Germany's seven-day COVID-19 incidence rate reached a new all-time high of 1,441 infections per 100,000 inhabitants on Tuesday, according to the Robert Koch Institute for infectious diseases.
However, RKI president Lothar Wieler said he was "optimistic that we will soon get over the Omicron wave."
Although the number of COVID-19 patients being treated in intensive care units has increased slightly to 2,390, this number is far below the peak of around 5,700 during the height of the second wave in early 2021, according to the German Intensive Care Availability Register.
However, Germany's vaccination campaign has continued to slow down. So far, 45.3 million people have received a booster vaccination in the country.
In this file photo taken on Feb 24, 2021, airport workers unload a shipment of COVID-19 vaccines from the Covax global COVID-19 vaccination program at the Kotoka International Airport in Accra.
(NIPAH DENNIS / AFP)
Ghana
Ghanaian health authorities have set up at least 6,000 vaccination centers nationwide to accelerate COVID-19 immunization, Health Minister Kwaku Agyeman-Manu said Tuesday.
The country had a stock of 10 million COVID-19 vaccines available for the current vaccination drive in addition to the 16 million already administered, he said.
"We are deploying vaccines and still paying for vaccines. This round of vaccinations is to last for five days, but we have extended it. We are also likely to maintain the 6,000 centers to rump up the rate of vaccination to ensure that the vaccines do not go to waste," Agyeman-Manu added.
The minister made the remarks during a tour of some World Bank-funded health project sites, lauding the World Bank for supporting the country's COVID-19 response program with a total of $435.8 million.
According to Ghanaian health authorities, the country has vaccinated 11,835,359 people as of Tuesday.
An illustration picture shows vials with COVID-19 Vaccine stickers attached and syringes with the logo of US biotech company Novavax on Nov 17, 2020.
(JUSTIN TALLIS / AFP)
Novavax
Novavax Inc has delivered just a small fraction of the 2 billion COVID-19 shots it plans to send around the world in 2022 and has delayed first-quarter shipments in Europe and some lower income countries, public officials involved in their government's vaccine rollouts told Reuters.
Novavax said it has completed delivery of around 10 million vaccine doses to Indonesia and that shipments of several million shots arrived in Australia and New Zealand on Monday. The company declined to comment on the exact number of deliveries it has made but said it is moving as quickly as possible to ship its contracted supplies for this quarter.
Some shipments have been held up by regulatory processes and are waiting in a distribution warehouse to go to healthcare providers, Novavax spokesperson Amy Speak said.
Novavax shares fell nearly 10 percent in early trading.
Shipments to the European Union, Indonesia and the Philippines were held back by a late regulatory approval from the World Health Organization, export limitations of its production partner the Serum Institute of India, and delayed approval of individual vaccine batches by European regulators, who must vet the shots before they can be distributed, according to officials in those regions.
The delivery delays have left at least one country reconsidering its Novavax order.
The company has yet to deliver vaccine on its largest contract for 1.1 billion doses to COVAX – a global vaccine distribution program for poorer countries – which would make Novavax its third largest supplier, according to business data and analytics firm GlobalData Plc.
ALSO READ: Babies of mRNA-jabbed moms 'have antibodies at 6 months'
In this file photo taken on May 19, 2021, a patient wears a Virtual Reality goggles as he takes part in a therapy after a COVID-19 disease at the John Paul II Specialists Hospital. (BARTOSZ SIEDLIK / AFP)
Poland
Poland may lift its COVID-19 restrictions in March if daily infection numbers keep falling at the current rate, the health minister said in an interview published on Wednesday.
A wave of Omicron cases pushed infections to a record high in late January, but numbers have since declined.
"If the tempo at which infections are falling remains the same, there is a realistic prospect of lifting restrictions in March," Adam Niedzielski told the Fakt tabloid.
He said wearing masks in closed spaces would become a recommendation rather than a requirement and that returning to on-site classes in schools was a priority.
Niedzielski said he wanted to shorten the isolation period for people infected with COVID-19 to seven days from 10 currently.
Poland currently requires people to wear masks in enclosed public spaces and there are limits on the number of unvaccinated people allowed in restaurants and other venues. The regulations are often not strictly enforced.
The country of around 38 million people had reported 5,224,144 cases of the coronavirus and 106,894 deaths as of Tuesday.
Uganda
Uganda is preparing legislation to make COVID-19 jabs mandatory in a country with low levels of vaccination, a senior health official said.
Legislation was now with parliament and the health committee is scrutinizing it, the head of the national immunization program, Alfred Driwale, told Reuters.
"It is to help prevention of a disease, it's about prevention of deaths. Considering the impact the pandemic had on the economy this law is needed," he said.
Uganda has a population of about 45 million people but only about 12.7 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines have so far been administered, according to the health ministry.
Uganda fully re-opened its economy last month after two years of anti-coronavirus measures that included curfews, businesses and school closures, shutting of borders, grounding of vehicles among others.
The strict measures helped curb the pandemic but drew widespread criticism from Ugandans whose businesses and livelihoods were blighted.
The country has so far recorded a total of about 162,000 cases of COVID-19 and a death toll of 3,500, according to health ministry data.
A nurse administers a pediatric dose of the COVID-19 vaccine to a girl at a LA Care Health Plan vaccination clinic at Los Angeles Mission College in the Sylmar neighborhood in Los Angeles, California, Jan 19, 2022. (ROBYN BECK / AFP)
US
Over 12 million children in the United States have tested positive for COVID-19 since the onset of the pandemic, according to the latest report of the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children's Hospital Association.
A total of 12,042,870 child COVID-19 cases had been reported across the country as of Feb 3, and children represented 18.9 percent of all confirmed cases, according to the report published late Monday.
COVID-19 cases among children have spiked dramatically across the United States during the Omicron variant surge.
Almost 4.2 million child cases were reported since the beginning of January. For the week ending Feb 3, nearly 632,000 additional child COVID-19 cases were reported, according to the report.
Over 1.4 million child cases have been added in the past 2 weeks.
This marks the 26th week in a row child COVID-19 cases in the United States are above 100,000. Since the first week of September, there have been nearly 7 million additional child cases, according to the AAP.
