Britain okays vaccine as global Covid death toll nears 1.5 million

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LONDON, Dec 3, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – Britain on Wednesday became the
first western country to approve a Covid-19 vaccine for general use,
while Japan and Italy pledged free inoculations for all even as the
global death toll rose towards 1.5 million.

The news came as the UN convenes a special two-day summit on the
pandemic Thursday, with European leaders such as French President
Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel to speak virtually
on their countries’ response to the global health crisis.

Notably absent will be populist heads of state like US President
Donald Trump and Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, as well as
Chinese President Xi Jinping, whose country was ground zero as the
virus began its deadly crawl across the globe late last year.

Meanwhile US hospitalizations of Covid patients topped 100,000 for
the first time Wednesday, according to the Covid Tracking Project, as
the United States, which has suffered the highest virus toll with more
than 270,000 deaths, reported that it hopes to have immunised 100
million people against Covid-19 by the end of February.

The UK’s independent medicines regulator gave a green light to the
BioNTech-Pfizer drug in double-quick time but insisted safety had come
first.

“Everybody can be confident that no corners whatsoever have been
cut,” said Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA)
chief executive June Raine. “The public deserve nothing less.”

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the move heralded a vaccination
programme “that will ultimately allow us to reclaim our lives and get
the economy moving again”.

His government said some 800,000 doses would be administered
starting as soon as next week.

With over 59,000 deaths from 1.6 million cases, Britain’s outbreak
remains the deadliest in Europe.

The EU’s medicines regulator insisted Wednesday it has the “most
appropriate” method to approve a coronavirus vaccine, after British
ministers claimed that leaving the bloc, and its rules, had allowed
them to adopt the jab ahead of their European neighbours.

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) said it will hold a special
meeting by December 29 at the latest to decide on whether to grant
conditional approval for the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.

– Global tolls climb –

Meanwhile Mexico said it signed an agreement Wednesday with Pfizer
to buy 34.4 million doses of vaccine, with a first batch due to arrive
this month.

The cumulative total of Covid-19 cases surged by nearly 30 percent
across the Americas in just one month, the Pan American Health
Organization warned, releasing figures for November.

Canada is seeing worrying surges along with Brazil and Cuba.

Japan and Italy decided that vaccines, when approved, will be
provided free to all residents.

As in Britain, Italy plans for medical staff and people in elderly
care homes to be among the first vaccinated.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel announced that cultural and
sporting facilities as well as restaurants and bars will remain shut
until January 10, extending shutdown measures to curb transmission of
the coronavirus.

In Spain, Health Minister Salvador Illa announced that people will
exceptionally be able to travel to visit family over Christmas but
that such get-togethers must be restricted to 10 people at the most.

Close to 1.5 million people globally had died from the coronavirus
as of 0100 GMT Thursday, according to an AFP count based on official
sources, while more than 64 million have been infected.

– ‘Science will win’ –

Pfizer chief executive Albert Bourla declared the UK certification
a “historic moment in the fight against Covid-19”.

“This authorisation is a goal we have been working toward since we
first declared that science will win,” he said.

US giant Pfizer and German newcomer BioNTech added that they
expected further regulatory decisions from other countries in the
coming days and weeks.

Other vaccines expected to come on stream soon include ones from
Moderna and AstraZeneca/Oxford University, which has strong backing
from the UK government.

Many poorer countries are pinning their hopes on the
AstraZeneca/Oxford candidate, which can be kept in regular
refrigerators and is being offered at cost price.

But it is undergoing further data analysis after questions were
raised over the effectiveness of its dosage regime.

With effectiveness around 95 percent, both Pfizer-BioNTech and
Moderna vaccines are based on new mRNA technology, which hacks into
human cells to effectively turn them into vaccine-making factories.

– Large-scale Russia vaccinations –

On Wednesday Russian President Vladimir Putin, who will not attend
the UN summit either, ordered “large-scale” vaccinations to start next
week with the country’s Sputnik V vaccine.

Over 100,000 people have already been vaccinated with Sputnik V,
currently in the final stage of clinical trials involving some 40,000
volunteers.

Beyond the hoped-for jabs, researchers at the University of
Pennsylvania and biotech firm Regeneron are working on a nasal spray
that is designed to stop infection from the virus, initially testing
the gene therapy on animals.

The pandemic continues to wreak economic havoc, with the
International Labour Organization warning of “massive downward
pressure on wages in the near future”.

“The wages of women and low-paid workers have been
disproportionately affected,” the ILO added.