This file illustration photo taken on Nov 17, 2020 shows vials with COVID-19 Vaccine stickers attached and syringes, with the logo of the University of Oxford and its partner British pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca. (PHOTO / AFP)
OTTAWA / AMSTERDAM / RIGA / WASHINGTON / BRUSSELS / LONDON – The relatively short shelf life of AstraZeneca Plc's COVID-19 vaccine is complicating the rollout to the world's poorest nations, according to officials and internal World Health Organization documents reviewed by Reuters.
It is the latest headache to plague the COVAX vaccine-sharing project, co-led by the WHO and aimed at getting shots to the world's neediest people.
Initially, poorer countries and COVAX lagged richer countries in securing vaccine supplies, as wealthier nations used their financial might to acquire the first available doses.
COVAX's complex system to assign doses to countries, and donors' requests to deliver them to selected nations, often further eat into the vaccine's short life, leaving sometimes only a few weeks before they expire
As vaccine production ramped up and richer states began donating excess doses, some countries – particularly in Africa – are now struggling to administer the big shipments.
The need to turn down vaccines with short shelf lives, along with the initial inequality, hesitancy and other barriers, has contributed to a much lower vaccination rate in Africa where only around 10 percent of people have been immunized, compared with more than 70 percent in richer nations.
Many vaccines are arriving with only a few months, and sometimes weeks, before their use-by date, adding to the scramble to get shots in arms. Some countries have had to destroy expired doses, including Nigeria which dumped up to 1 million AstraZeneca vaccines in November.
The problem with a short shelf life largely concerns AstraZeneca, according to COVAX data and officials.
Two and a half months of shelf life is the minimum duration African countries reckon they need to administer the shots.
AstraZeneca, COVAX's second-biggest supplier after Pfizer, said that since the start of the global rollout, more than 250 million of its shots left factories with less than two-and-a-half months before expiry.
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Short shelf life is not generally a problem for a wealthy country with expertise and infrastructure. But without systems in place, it can be insurmountable.
The volumes of delivered vaccines vastly outnumber wasted doses, but the losses have been substantial thanks in part to the time pressures. This has led to AstraZeneca shots being turned down even before being shipped.
Taking into account only donated doses, which represent nearly half the billion vaccines distributed by COVAX, about 30 million AstraZeneca shots were rejected or deferred last year by poor nations, said Gavi, the nonprofit that co-runs COVAX alongside the WHO. That amounts to a quarter of AstraZeneca's donated shots via COVAX.
Many were later re-assigned to other countries, Gavi added, noting that more than 95 percent of them were AstraZeneca. It did not say where to.
Millions of additional AstraZeneca doses shared by the EU, COVAX's biggest donor, have not been distributed yet, according to an EU internal document reviewed by Reuters.
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The main problem is the vaccine's shelf life of just six months from the date of bottling, the shortest among COVAX's top suppliers, several COVAX and EU officials told Reuters.
In addition, the company's quality checks can themselves sometimes take months.
COVAX's complex system to assign doses to countries, and donors' requests to deliver them to selected nations, often further eat into the vaccine's short life, leaving sometimes only a few weeks before they expire.
A woman dressed as a clown gives out balloons during a protest by truck drivers over COVID-19 pandemic health rules and the Trudeau government, outside the parliament of Canada in Ottawa, Ontario on Feb 13, 2022.
(ED JONES / AFP)
Canada
Canada is easing the on-arrival test requirements for fully-vaccinated travellers starting Feb. 28 as the latest wave of COVID-19 driven by the Omicron variant has passed its peak, Public Health Agency of Canada announced Tuesday.
According to the press release, travellers may still be selected for random testing upon arrival but will no longer have to quarantine while awaiting their test results.
Travellers can instead opt for a rapid antigen test approved by the countries they are coming from.
Currently, all travellers, regardless of vaccine status, must provide proof of a negative molecular test, such as a PCR test, within 72 hours of their scheduled flight or land entry into Canada.
The government is also easing its advisory recommending Canadians avoid non-essential travel due to the rise of the Omicron variant.
Restrictions on unvaccinated children younger than 12 and travelling with vaccinated adults are also being lifted. They will no longer need to wait and self isolate before attending school, daycare, or camps.
Unvaccinated travellers will still be required to be tested on arrival into Canada and must quarantine for 14 days, the press release said.
Kenya
Kenya's Ministry of Health on Tuesday launched malaria and COVID-19 PCR diagnostic kits in a bid to boost timely detection and treatment of the two diseases.
Rashid Aman, the chief administrative secretary in the Ministry of Health, said that the malaria rapid diagnostic kit and the PCR COVID-19 testing kit were invented by local researchers.
"The kits that are the first to be produced locally, will save the country and families from importation at a higher price," Aman said during the diagnostic kits' launch in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya.
Aman said the malaria diagnostic kits and COVID-19 testing kits made by researchers at the Kenya Medical Research Institute are already being sold in pharmacies at 60 shillings and 4.4 dollars per pair, respectively.
He said the government will not only support KEMRI with the continued production of these kits, but also purchase the products to ensure continuous research and improvement now and in the future.
Daniel Mbinda, the chairman of the KEMRI board of directors, said that currently, the institution is testing 70 percent of COVID-19 samples in the country, adding that the institution is looking at ways of partnering with the pharmaceutical industry to introduce new products to the local and regional markets.
A man walks as beds and medical equipment are seen in the lobby of the Pauls Stradins Clinical University Hospital in Riga, Latvia on Oct 21, 2021. (GINTS IVUSKANS / AFP)
Latvia
The Latvian government on Tuesday adopted a three-step plan to phase out nearly all COVID-19 restrictions by April, local media reported.
The restrictions will be eased gradually, taking into consideration the ongoing spread of the Omicron variant which is still straining the Baltic country's health system.
The first phase of the plan, which comes into effect this Wednesday, Feb 16, primarily concerns children who will no longer need a COVID-19 certificate to receive a service or attend an event. With COVID-19 incidence expected to start dropping towards the end of February, the Health Ministry proposes a further easing of COVID-19 rules from March 1.
"April 1 is the indicative date for ending safety measures," Health Minister Daniels Pavluts said in a news conference following the government meeting.
As of March 1, people will be allowed to enter large shopping centers without presenting their COVID-19 certificates proving vaccination or recovery from the virus. Instead, retailers will have to provide at least 15 square meters of floor space per shopper. COVID-19 certificates will not be required at outdoor events and religious gatherings.
The vaccine certificates will still be needed to attend public events in indoor settings, to receive in-person services like beauty care, and to participate in activities like choir rehearsals or to gym workouts.
Establishments like nightclubs and amusement parks that have remained closed almost throughout the pandemic will reopen on March 1.
The Center for Disease Prevention and Control on Tuesday reported 11,105 new COVID-19 cases and 12 COVID-19 related deaths in Latvia.
Netherlands
The Dutch government will lift most of its coronavirus restrictions as of Friday, as the record levels of infections triggered by the Omicron variant have not translated in a peak of hospitalizations, health minister Ernst Kuipers said on Tuesday.
"The country will open up again … happily we are in a different phase now," Kuipers said during a press conference.
Bars and restaurants will be allowed to stay open until 1 am as of Friday, instead of 10 pm.
Kuipers, who said he was optimistic about the situation but still urged caution, added that normal closing hours would resume starting Feb 25.
"We have just passed the peak (of new cases), that is why we insist we all should remain careful," he said, adding masks were not mandatory anymore but remained recommended.
Social distancing measures will be dropped in public places by the end of the month, but visitors will need to show proof of either vaccination, a recent recovery from COVID-19 or a negative coronavirus test.
Honorands and senior University members take part in the annual Encaenia ceremony at Oxford University in Oxford, west of London on Sep 22, 2021.(TOLGA AKMEN / AFP)
Oxford University
Oxford University scientists said on Tuesday they would evaluate the effects of new coronavirus variants on pregnant women and newborns, as well as COVID-19 vaccination effects on complications during pregnancy and after birth.
The study comes less than a year after the university found that pregnant women with COVID-19 and their newborn children faced higher risks of complications, such as premature birth and organ failure risk, than was previously known.
The researchers said the study aimed to fill gaps, including the effects of new variants of the virus such as Omicron in a high-risk group that has seen "alarmingly" low rates of vaccination.
"The effects of COVID-19 in pregnancy have been underestimated and insufficiently studied," said Oxford University professor José Villar, who is also the co-lead of the study.
"Pregnant women were not even included in vaccine trials, which has allowed unscientific, scary 'information' to be widely disseminated."
Many global health authorities have said vaccinations during pregnancy is safe, with a US study last month finding that they were not associated with preterm delivery or underweight newborns.
In November, data from the UK Health Security Agency showed that COVID-19 vaccination was safe for pregnant women and not associated with higher rates of complications.
The upcoming British study will enroll about 1,500 women who have tested positive for the virus at any stage of pregnancy and compare them with 3,000 non-infected women over four months. Oxford scientists said they expect the trial's results in May.
A ten year old child high fives Pharmacist Colleen Teevan after he received the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine for kids at Hartford Hospital in Hartford, Connecticut on Nov 2, 2021. (JOSEPH PREZIOSO / AFP)
US
More than 2.9 million child COVID-19 cases have been added in the United States in the past 4 weeks, and over 12.3 million children in the country have been infected since the onset of the pandemic, according to the latest report of the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children's Hospital Association.
COVID-19 cases among children have spiked dramatically across the United States during the Omicron variant surge
Almost 4.5 million child cases were reported since the beginning of January. For the week ending Feb 10, nearly 300,000 additional child COVID-19 cases were reported, according to the report published late Monday.
This marks the 27th 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 7.3 million additional child cases, according to the AAP.
"There is an urgent need to collect more age-specific data to assess the severity of illness related to new variants as well as potential longer-term effects. It is important to recognize there are immediate effects of the pandemic on children's health, but importantly we need to identify and address the long-lasting impacts on the physical, mental, and social well-being of this generation of children and youth," said the report.
Meanwhile, more than 1,400 municipal workers have been fired in New York City for failing to get vaccinated by last Friday, according to multiple reports citing government sources.
Included are 914 teachers and other staff from the education department, 25 firefighters, 36 police officers, 101 local housing authority workers, and 40 sanitation department workers.
Most of the municipal workers receiving termination notices have been placed on unpaid leave for a few months.
