What you need to know about Covid-19 developments this week

A health worker inoculates a child with a dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine in Colombo on September 24, 2021 (AFP)

• An estimated 50,000 children with comorbidities in Sri Lanka
• Children with chronic illnesses including kidney, heart, neurological, gastrointestinal and urinary disease, as well as thalassaemia given priority
• Recent trial from Pfizer showed favourable safety profile and robust neutralising antibody responses in children between 5 to 11 years of age
• Vaccination of healthy children to commence once specialist recommendations are finalised

The Sri Lankan government last week rolled out its vaccination programme for children. Deliberated for weeks by technical committees, the programme saw the COVID-19 vaccine being administered to children between 12 to 19 years who either have comorbidities or disabilities. 

Medical experts have since encouraged parents to vaccinate children who are suffering from chronic diseases, including diabetes, kidney disease, heart disease, neurological disease, thalassaemia, gastrointestinal disease as well as diseases of the urinary tract. 

The vaccine is administered with permission of the parents and upon recommendations of the relevant specialist doctors whose care children have sought during clinical assessments and treatments. 

While the initial round of vaccination for children with special needs kicked off at the Lady Ridgeway Hospital for Children in Colombo, and hospitals in Anuradhapura and Kurunegala on Friday, September 24, the government said measures are underway to implement similar vaccination programmes in every province and district, in consultation with specialist doctors and paediatricians. 

An estimated 50,000 children in Sri Lanka suffer from comorbidities and therefore are vulnerable if the deadly virus is contracted. The vaccine identified as suitable for this group of children was the coveted Pfizer vaccine. On September 20, the vaccine maker Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE announced that results from a recent trial showed a favourable safety profile and robust neutralising antibody responses in children between 5 to 11 years of age, when given two-dose regimen, administered 21 days apart. 

Accordingly, Sri Lankan authorities have stated that the vaccination of healthy children between the age group of 15-19 years and the age group between 12-15, will commence as soon as specialist recommendations have been finalised.

However, medical experts in the past few weeks have warned of a worrisome anti-vaccination campaign that is brewing in Sri Lanka, where parents and youths who have been offered the vaccine are hesitating or refusing to get the jab. During a recent media briefing organised by the Department of Government Information, Professor of Community Health at the Medical Faculty of the University of Colombo, M. Weerasinghe said this. 

Prof. Weerasinghe suggested that there were strong misinformation camps that the immunity offered by different vaccines differed. All vaccines recommended by the WHO have good capacity of immunisation, he said, adding that the Pfizer vaccine has been recommended for children between 12 to 18 years of age. Countries such as the United States, Australia, Germany, Switzerland, Norway and the United Kingdom have already vaccinated children of particular age groups, therefore Sri Lankan parents have no cause for concern, the medical experts stressed. 
Community Health Specialist and Director of Family Health Bureau Dr. Chithramali de Silva meanwhile said that Sri Lanka has a strong history of successful immunisation campaigns which has led to the country recording lowest child mortality rates in South Asia. “Vaccination of children began in 1961 and it was later carried out island-wide by 1978. Sri Lanka has been successful in administering relevant and necessary vaccines to children at the appropriate time,” she said. Both doctors stressed that vaccination has been key in reducing mortality and spread of major contagious disease outbreaks in Sri Lanka, stressing that public should maintain faith in these medical interventions.

COVID-19 Global Developments

Only a handful of countries or territories have been left with no active Covid-19 cases, as they managed to keep the deadly global pandemic at bay. From the United Nations to Italy and India, second or third waves of the illness have worsened conditions than when the pandemic initially hit in early 2020. In Sri Lanka where lockdowns and travel restrictions have eased, its citizens are benefitting from an accelerated vaccination rollout by the government.  
Since the outbreak of the disease in China in 2019, health authorities in over 200 countries reported an approximate 187.8 million Covid-19 cases and 4 million deaths. Countries across Asia, Americas and Africa are seeing a resurgence in COVID-19 cases, forcing them to bring back or extend stringent lockdowns and hampering drives to vaccinate their population. Here’s a look at the latest global developments of the Coronavirus.

EUROPE 

•  Spain surpassed 4 million Coronavirus cases since the pandemic began after adding 43,960 new cases. The highly contagious Delta variant is reported to have driven the surge of infections among unvaccinated young people. 
• Greece will require customers at indoor restaurants, bars and cafes to prove they have been vaccinated against COVID-19, the government said.
•  Scotland’s first minister Nicola Sturgeon said the country was still on track to lift almost all COVID-19 restrictions by Aug. 9, but that face coverings would be required.
•  All COVID-19 cases in the Lisbon area and the popular southern Algarve region are of the more contagious Delta variant, data showed, as Portuguese authorities scramble to bring under control a worrying surge in infections.
•  German Chancellor Angela Merkel warned more people needed to be vaccinated against COVID-19 before restrictions could be lifted, after reports that England is set to do away with nearly all restrictions from next week.
•  In England masks are to remain mandatory on London transport. Masks will remain mandatory on London’s public transport network after July 19. The public will be expected, rather than compelled by law, to wear masks in indoor enclosed spaces across the country from next week, as rules decided upon by the Conservative administration are eased.

ASIA-PACIFIC 

•  South Korea reported a record increase in new infections at 1,615, surpassing the previous peak seen last week.
•  Singapore’s tourism board said a cruise ship operated by Genting Cruise Lines on a so-called cruise to nowhere had returned to the city-state after a 40-year-old passenger was suspected to have contracted COVID-19.
•  Malaysia announced new measures to support its ailing public health system as the country saw another record daily rise in COVID-19 cases.
• Australia extended a lockdown in Sydney by at least 14 days, after three weeks of initial restrictions failed to stamp out the biggest outbreak of COVID-19 this year, in the country’s largest city. The shutdown has now been extended on two occasions and total infections since the first was initially detected in the city’s eastern suburbs in mid-June now stand at just under 900. Two deaths have been reported, the first for the country this year.

AMERICAS 

•  Mexico reported its biggest daily increase in infections since February, with a fresh wave of cases threatening to undermine the country’s vaccination drive.
•  Guatemala declared a “state of prevention” for the entire country, limiting outdoor meetings and public demonstrations, after a dramatic spike in cases last week.

MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA 

•  Bahrain civil aviation affairs said entry will be banned from 16 new countries including Tunisia, Iran, Iraq, Mexico, Philippines, South Africa and Indonesia over coronavirus concerns, the state news agency reported.
• Tunisia is struggling to contain its worst outbreak ever, with the virus infecting parliament speaker Rached Ghannouchi, while Morocco has planned to send 100 intensive care beds and similar number of ventilators to help tackle the crisis.
• Nigeria expects to receive nearly 8 million additional doses of COVID-19 vaccines by the end of August, including those from a U.S. government donation.
•  Israel changed its strategy under what Prime Minister Naftali Bennett calls a policy of “soft suppression”, the government wants Israelis to learn to live with the virus - involving the fewest possible restrictions and avoiding a fourth national lockdown that could do further harm to the economy.

ECONOMIC IMPACT 

•  Asian shares fell as data showing the biggest jump in U.S. inflation in 13 years fuelled market expectations that the Federal Reserve could exit pandemic-era stimulus earlier than previously thought.
• Japan’s economy will grow at a slower pace than initially expected in the third quarter, as fresh coronavirus emergency curbs in Tokyo, extending through the Olympic Games, weigh on consumption, a Reuters poll found.

MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS 

•  Italy approved the temporary distribution of a coronavirus antibody treatment by Britain’s GlaxoSmithKline and U.S. company Vir Biotechnology, the health ministry said.
• The European Medicines Agency said it was analysing data on rare cases of a nerve disorder reported among recipients of Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine, after the U.S. added a warning label to the shot.

WHO warns individuals against mixing and matching COVID vaccines

The World Health Organisation’s chief scientist has advised individuals against mixing and matching COVID-19 vaccines from different manufacturers, saying such decisions should be left to public health authorities.
“It’s a little bit of a dangerous trend here,” Soumya Swaminathan told an online briefing on Monday after a question about booster shots. “It will be a chaotic situation in countries if citizens start deciding when and who will be taking a second, a third and a fourth dose.” Swaminathan had called mixing a “data-free zone” but later clarified her remarks in an overnight tweet.

“Individuals should not decide for themselves, public health agencies can, based on available data,” she said in the tweet. “Data from mix and match studies of different vaccines are awaited - immunogenicity and safety both need to be evaluated.” The WHO’s Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on vaccines said in June the Pfizer Inc vaccine could be used as a second dose after an initial dose of AstraZeneca, if the latter is not available.
A clinical trial led by the University of Oxford in the UK is ongoing to investigate mixing the regimen of AstraZeneca and Pfizer vaccines. The trial was recently expanded to include the Moderna Inc and Novovax Inc vaccines.

(Reuters)