- Germany’s vaccine committee said it could not recommend the use of the AstraZeneca / Oxford coronavirus vaccine for anyone over the age of 65.
- The World Health Organization (WHO) said one third of the African continent will be vaccinated by the end of 2021.
- The US economy contracted 3.5 percent last year, the strongest since 1946, according to official data.
- According to data from Johns Hopkins University, nearly 101 million people around the world have been diagnosed with COVID-19 and more than 2.17 million have died. More than 55.7 million patients have recovered.
This is Usaid Siddiqui in Toronto. Here are the latest updates for Thursday January 28th:
Virus cost global tourism $ 1.3 trillion in 2020: UN
The coronavirus crisis cost the global tourism industry $ 1.3 trillion in lost revenue in 2020 as the number of travelers plummeted, the UN said, calling it “the worst year in tourism history.”
Revenues lost last year were “more than 11 times the loss recorded during the 2009 global economic crisis,” the Madrid-based World Tourism Organization said in a statement warning that between 100 million and 120 million direct tourists jobs were at risk.
WHO team to visit Wuhan hospitals, laboratories and market
Scientists led by the World Health Organization (WHO) plan to visit hospitals, laboratories and markets in the Chinese central city of Wuhan to investigate the origin of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, WHO said.
“Field visits include the Wuhan Institute of Virology, the Huanan market, the Wuhan CDC laboratory,” the Geneva-based agency said in a tweet, adding that they would speak to some of the first COVID-19 patients during the outbreak which started in December. 2019.
The team plans to visit hospitals, laboratories and markets. Field visits include Wuhan Institute of Virology, Huanan Market, Wuhan CDC Laboratory. They will speak to early responders and some of the first #COVID-19 patients. https://t.co/Owd6GEBoAj
– World Health Organization (WHO) (@WHO) January 28, 2021
Switzerland says delivery of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine will be delayed
Moderna has warned Switzerland that supplies of the COVID-19 vaccine would be delayed, the Swiss Ministry of Health said, leading to shortages in February that the country expects the US company to catch up in March.
The delays follow European delivery problems with vaccine maker AstraZeneca, as well as Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech, as demand for COVID-19 shots is sky-high, but supply remains tight and production limited.
In New York, the death toll in nursing homes was too low by 50 percent – AG
New York may have underestimated the COVID-19 deaths of nursing home residents by as much as 50 percent, the state attorney general said in a report.
Attorney General Letitia James has been investigating for months the differences between the number of deaths reported by the Department of Health and the number of deaths reported by the houses themselves.
A patient is loaded into the back of an ambulance by medical workers outside Cobble Hill Health Center in Brooklyn, New York [File: John Minchillo/AP]
The mayor of Tampa is issuing an outer mask for the Super Bowl
Anyone visiting Tampa’s popular outdoor destinations for the Super Bowl should wear a mask to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
Tampa Mayor Jane Castor signed an executive order on Wednesday requiring masks to be worn outside downtown, in areas around Raymond James Stadium – where the Super Bowl will be held – and in other tourist spots.
About 20-25 percent of Russians have virus antibodies – TASS
The head of Russia’s consumer safety watchdog said that about 20-25 percent of Russians have COVID-19 antibodies, TASS news agency reported.
Russia’s coronavirus task force has reported 19,138 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, including 2,897 in Moscow, bringing the total national number to 3,793,810 since the pandemic began.
AstraZeneca, British Prime Minister, defends the effectiveness of the COVID vaccine
AstraZeneca and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson defended the effectiveness of the company’s Covid-19 vaccine after regulators in Germany said it should not be given to people over 65.
A spokesperson for the UK-based company said the latest clinical trial data for the vaccine, developed in collaboration with the University of Oxford, “supports its efficacy in the over 65 age group.”
The company is awaiting a decision from the EU medicines regulator, the spokesperson added.
Mutations in France are spreading rapidly: Minister of Health
French Health Minister Olivier Veran warned the public that mutations of the coronavirus are spreading rapidly on Thursday, as the country considers taking further measures to contain the pandemic.
“What we want to avoid is an outbreak within the epidemic,” Veran told the press, as France continued to report more than 20,000 new cases of the virus every day.
German bulletin board does not recommend AstraZeneca for older people
Germany’s vaccine commission said it could not recommend the use of AstraZeneca’s coronavirus vaccine for the elderly, the last time in a row over the shot that put Britain and the EU on a collision course.
The panel of scientific experts called STIKO said the vaccine should only be used for “persons 18 to 65 years old based on the available data.”
“There is currently insufficient data to assess the vaccine’s efficacy for persons 65 and older,” said the panel.
AstraZeneca’s vaccine, jointly developed with the University of Oxford, has not yet received approval for general use in the European Union [File: Monirul Alam/EPA]
Germany to ban certain travelers for fear of virus variants
Germany is preparing entry bans for travelers from the UK, Portugal, Brazil and South Africa to limit the spread of the more contagious variants of the coronavirus in these countries, Interior Minister Horst Seehofer said on Thursday.
“To protect our population, there should be no access from regions where these variants of the virus are rampant,” he said on the brink of a virtual meeting with his EU counterparts.
One third of Africa will be vaccinated this year: WHO
Africa can expect at least 30 percent of the population to be immunized against COVID-19 by the end of 2021, WHO said Thursday, as vaccines trickle into the continent.
It is estimated that Africa needs 1.5 billion doses of vaccine to immunize 60 percent of its 1.3 billion inhabitants, the threshold for herd immunity to COVID-19.
Funeral directors with personal protective equipment carry a coffin during the funeral of a COVID-19 victim, amid a nationwide closure of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), at Olifantsvlei Cemetery, southwest of Johannesburg, South Africa [File: Siphiwe Sibeko/Reuters]
The U.S. economy in 2020 will have its worst year since 1946
According to published government data, the US economy has contracted 3.5 percent after the COVID-19 pandemic shut down major sectors of business and everyday life.
It was the biggest contraction of the world’s largest economy since 1946, the Commerce Department said.