China Ramps Up Vaccine Rollout, Sees Winter Risks: Virus Update

(Bloomberg) -- China ramped up its vaccination rollout as the government warned about a possible winter spike in infections as people travel and gather for holidays.

In the U.S., President-elect Joe Biden says he’ll distribute more of the available vaccine doses, as the U.S. surpassed 4,000 daily fatalities for the first time. New York state will begin to expand eligibility for the vaccine and Utah’s new governor signed an order to speed vaccine distribution. Los Angeles County and Maine broke records for deaths.

London’s mayor declared an emergency as the U.K. reported record fatalities. Germany also reported the most daily deaths since the start of the pandemic.

Key Developments:

China Has Administered More Than 9 Million Vaccine Doses (11:15 a.m. HK)

China has administered more than 9 million anti-coronavirus vaccine doses as the country braces for a possible increase in infections during the winter.

Some 7.5 million doses have been given since Dec. 15, officials told a briefing in Beijing. Vaccines are free for all citizens and the costs will be covered by the medicare fund and fiscal budgets, they said.

China sees a bigger risk of the virus spreading in winter as people travel and gather for holidays, National Health Commission Deputy Head Zeng Yixin told reporters.

The vaccination roll-out is focused first on high-risk population groups because production capacity can’t keep up, Zeng said. Capacity is steadily ramping up now and it will enable administration of doses to the general public, he said, without giving a timeline.

Japan to Fine People With Virus Who Refuse Hospitalization (10:25 a.m. HK)

Japan aims to revise its bill on infectious diseases to allow imposing penalties on people infected with Covid-19 who do not respond to requests for hospitalization or treatment, the Yomiuri newspaper reported, citing the government.

The government is discussing a fine of about 1 million yen ($9,621) or less, it said. While the current law enables prefecture governors to force infected people to be hospitalized, there are no penalties against those who refuse or run away.

Mexico Says AstraZeneca Vaccine Components Arrive in 10 Days (8:52 a.m. HK)

The “active” components of AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine will arrive in 10 days after Mexico’s regulator approved it for emergency use on Monday, Foreign Relations official Efrain Guadarrama said on Twitter.

Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard said last month that Mexico would get AstraZeneca vaccines March-April 2021.

Australia’s Queensland State Rushes to Test Passengers on Flight From Melbourne (8:42 a.m. HK)

Australia’s Queensland state is rushing to test passengers on a flight from Melbourne after a traveler tested positive for a U.K. strain of Covid-19 thought to be highly infectious.

The traveler was allowed to fly to the state’s capital Brisbane on Tuesday after exiting mandatory isolation in Victoria with no symptoms, South Australia, the state’s chief health officer Jeannette Young said. A re-test in Queensland showed the woman was still shedding the virus some 15-days after first testing positive in hotel quarantine when she returned from the U.K. on Dec. 26, Young told reporters Saturday.

“The risk is extremely low because she is right at the end of her potential infectious period, and with a normal variant, we would not be at all concerned,” Young said. “But because of this new variant, we are just being ultra cautious.”

Queensland state recorded no local transmission of the coronavirus overnight. Brisbane was placed into a three-day lockdown Friday to prevent an outbreak after a cleaner at a quarantine hotel in the city was infected with the U.K. strain. Victoria state recorded no new cases of local-transmission overnight, while New South Wales state recorded one new case, which is linked to a known cluster.

Los Angeles Deaths at Record 318, Hospitals Struggle (8:22 a.m. HK)

Los Angeles County, the nation’s most-populous, set a record for daily Covid-19 deaths with some 318 reported on Friday.

The sad numbers come two weeks to the day since Christmas, a day health officials feared would cause a bump in cases as families gathered for the holiday. The numbers are now almost twice the 170 people a day who typically die of all other causes.

Area hospitals have been struggling to cope with the new surge in cases, converting rooms for intensive-care patients, bringing in additional staff and canceling elective surgeries. LA’s county coroner said he was adding a second facility with refrigerated storage trailers to help cope with the increase in bodies.

Utah Governor Expands Vaccine Eligibility (7:54 a.m. HK)

Utah’s new Governor Spencer Cox signed an executive order to speed up vaccine distribution amid a post-holiday virus surge. Among other changes, teachers will be eligible to receive doses starting Monday, and the minimum age will be dropped to 70 from 75 on Jan. 18. “The virus doesn’t sleep,” he tweeted. “The virus doesn’t take weekends off. And neither should we.”

Symptoms Persist Six Months in Wuhan Study (7:36 a.m. HK)

More than three-quarters of Covid-19 patients hospitalized in Wuhan between January and May had at least one persistent symptom six months later, according to a report that forebodes the enduring pain of the pandemic.

Almost two-thirds of those followed still experienced fatigue or muscle weakness half a year after their acute illness, while 26% had sleep difficulties and 23% had anxiety or depression, according to the peer-reviewed study of 1,733 patients in The Lancet medical journal.

Florida Reports More Than 19,000 Cases for Second Straight Day (7:23 a.m. HK)

Florida reported 19,530 new infections, slightly fewer than the record set the previous day for the entire pandemic. Amid a renewed surge around the South, the state reported another 185 deaths among residents.

New York to Open Up Vaccines to People Over Age 75 (5:46 a.m. HK)

New York will begin providing coronavirus vaccines to people age 75 and older on Monday, expanding eligibility beyond health-care workers on the front lines.

Hospitals and pharmacies still must prioritize health-care workers, but if they have extra capacity, “fine,” Governor Andrew Cuomo said in a briefing Friday.

New York will also allow private doctors, ambulatory centers and pharmacies to provide vaccines in order to speed a slower-than-expected rollout, Cuomo said. Also Monday, police officers, firefighters, and other first responders will be able to get shots, along with educators, transit and public-safety workers.

Hospitals have increased distribution, but it’s not enough, Cuomo said. Only 23% of 2.1 million health-care workers have received shots so far. “We’re not pleased with the rate,” he said.

New York reported 18,832 new cases on Friday, breaking a record for the second consecutive day. Another 161 people died.

Canada Running Short of Vaccines (4:15 a.m. HK)

Justin Trudeau’s government sought to assure the public it’s trying to speed up delivery of vaccines amid pressure from health authorities who say they’re running low on shots.

Canada has ordered more doses per capita than any other country -- reserving at least 214 million shots for 38 million people -- and was the second country after the U.K. to approve the Pfizer vaccine. It has also authorized Moderna’s shot.

France Cases at Highest Level Since Autumn (3:29 a.m. HK)

France reported 19,814 new cases on Friday, pushing the 7-day average to 15,337, the highest level since late November. Deaths rose by 590 to 67,431. While the government has boasted France is doing a better job of controlling a resurgence of infections than neighbors, including the U.K. and Germany, daily cases are about triple a target set by President Emmanuel Macron before the country can start to ease restrictions.

Tests Largely Accurate on Virus Variants, FDA Says (3:15 a.m. HK)

The performance of three Covid-19 tests authorized for U.S. use could be affected by the emergence of coronavirus variants, though not significantly, and the overall risk of variants -- including one that appears to be more transmissible -- affecting testing accuracy is low, the Food and Drug Administration said on Friday.

The tests in question are Mesa Biotech Inc.’s Accula test, Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc.’s TaqPath Covid-19 Combo Kit and Applied DNA Sciences’ Linea Covid-19 Assay Kit, according to the FDA, though the agency noted that the latter two tests are designed to detect multiple genetic targets and so their overall sensitivity should not be affected. Those two tests could even help identify new variants early based on their detection patterns, the regulator said.

With the Mesa Biotech test, meanwhile, a genetic variant at a specific position could impact performance but “the impact does not appear to be significant,” the agency said in a letter to laboratory staff and health providers.

Applied DNA Sciences Chief Executive Officer James Hayward said in an interview the FDA communication actually suggests his company’s test is “one of the few ways, out of the hundred alternatives, to actually detect the variant.” The test, which is being used in diagnostic laboratories and surveillance efforts, has detected two instances of a coronavirus variant over the last two weeks, he said.

Mesa Biotech said in a statement that internal analysis found the test’s performance shouldn’t be affected by the genetic variant identified by the FDA.

Iranian Leader’s Tweet Blocked (2:57 a.m. HK)

Twitter hid a tweet by Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, that suggested the U.S. and U.K. might intentionally contaminate vaccines and decreed a ban on importing them.

The tweet on Friday, which said “French vaccines aren’t trustworthy either,” was labeled in violation of Twitter’s rules.

Iran’s Supreme Leader said he was banning the import of coronavirus vaccines made by U.S. and U.K. companies, including Pfizer, amid a feud with western nations.

“If their Pfizer manufacturer can produce a vaccine, then why do they want to give it to us?” Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in a televised speech Friday. “They should use it themselves so they don’t experience so many fatalities. Same with the U.K.”

The Iranian Red Crescent Society has canceled plans to deliver 150,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine with the help of U.S. philanthropists. The nation reported 6,251 new cases, bringing the total figures to almost 1.3 million. The number of fatalities rose by 85 to 56,018.

Ireland Breaks Record, Finds Variant Strain (2:46 a.m. HK)

Irish authorities reported the most new cases on record and confirmed three cases of the so-called South African variant of the virus had been found in the country. The nation’s health ministry reported 8,248 cases on Friday, with 20 deaths. Genome sequencing showed the South African variant in three cases “directly associated with recent travel” from that country, Chief Medical Officer Tony Holohan said. The government this week imposed the strictest lockdown level since March to control the virus, with hospitals in danger of being overwhelmed.

Biden Says He’ll Release More Vaccine In Gamble On Second Doses (2:09 a.m. HK)

President-elect Joe Biden says he’ll distribute more of the available doses of coronavirus vaccines, reversing the Trump administration’s practice of holding back second doses to ensure they’re available for people who’ve already had their first shot.

The move, announced by Biden’s office Friday and supported by a group of Democratic governors, is a response to the sluggish vaccine rollout. Coronavirus cases and deaths have been surging in the U.S. for months.

Three-Quarters of World Still Susceptible to Infection: WHO (1:37 a.m. HK)

As much as three-quarters of the global population is probably still susceptible to infection by Covid-19, said Mike Ryan, Health Emergency Director of the World Health Organization.

The WHO is starting to organize studies to better track how much of the world population has been infected, said Maria Van Kerkhove, the technical lead officer on Covid-19. Previous blood-test studies estimated as many as 10% of people may have been infected by Covid-19 in various countries, but those took place about half a year ago.

“We are at the fight of our lives,” Ryan said, adding that the mutation of the virus is speeding up the rate of infection. Reported infections worldwide have exceeded 4 million per week over the past three weeks.

Spain, Portugal Cases Break Record (1:34 a.m. HK)

Spain’s health ministry reported 12,327 new cases on Friday, the most since the start of the pandemic. That compares with 6,498 reported Thursday. Health Minister Salvador Illa said Friday that cases would continue to rise.

In Portugal, there were 10,176 new cases in a day, more than the previous record announced on Wednesday. The total number of deaths rose by a daily record 118 to 7,590. The nation may have to tighten restrictions on movement next week as it tries to contain the spread of the pandemic, Prime Minister Antonio Costa said.

Chicago Poised to Start Reopening Schools (1:18 a.m. HK)

Chicago’s public school district, the third-largest in the U.S., is sticking with its plan to start bringing students back to classrooms on Monday, resisting pressure from a teachers’ union that is demanding more safety measures to prevent the spread of Covid-19.

Monday will mark the first time in 10 months that some students will return to Chicago’s schools, starting with about 6,000 in pre-school and special needs programs who are expected to attend, according to Chicago Public Schools estimates.

Berlin, Romania Confirm First Cases of Virus Variant (1:02 a.m. HK)

The first case of the more transmissible U.K. variant of the coronavirus has been confirmed in Berlin, city health officials reported. The affected person, who had traveled to the U.K., has recovered.

Romania also confirmed its first case of the new variant. The patient hasn’t traveled abroad, which suggests that the variant -- first identified in the U.K. -- is already active in the country, epidemiologist Catalin Apostolescu told B1TV.

London Crisis Plan Invoked as U.K. Daily Covid Deaths Hit Record (12:40 a.m. HK)

London Mayor Sadiq Khan declared a “major incident” in the U.K. capital as the country’s daily death toll reached the highest level since the start of the pandemic.

The U.K. recorded 1,325 deaths within 28 days of a positive test and 68,053 new cases on Friday, according to official data.

Khan warned the state-run National Health Service in London is at risk of being overwhelmed by a surge in the virus.

Meanwhile, the U.K. cleared Moderna Inc.’s vaccine for emergency use, making it the third shot to get authorization, with 7 million doses expected to be delivered later in the year. It has previously approved vaccinations from Pfizer and AstraZeneca Plc-University of Oxford.

Maine’s Deaths and Infections Hit New Highs (11:44 p.m. HK)

Maine reported 782 new cases and 41 deaths on Friday, both records for the entire pandemic, state data show. The state also hit a record 202 hospitalizations, according to the Covid Tracking Project.

Iceland Bucks Trend by Loosening Virus Restrictions (9:24 p.m. HK)

Iceland plans to ease Covid-19 measures from Jan. 13, with cases having dropped significantly from an October peak.

Changes include doubling the cap on public gatherings to 20, and looser restrictions for gyms, sports and cultural events. The health minister announced the moves following a meeting with the country’s top epidemiologist.

Italy Among Europe Nations Tightening Virus Curbs (8:52 p.m. HK)

Italy, where daily deaths rose to 620 from 414 Thursday, will tighten coronavirus restrictions in Milan and its surrounding area, as well as four other regions, to curb the accelerating spread of the pandemic. Bars and restaurants will have to close as part of the toughened rules, which come into force on Jan. 10.

Croatia extended similar restrictions until Jan. 31. Hungary and France have also prolonged virus curbs. Cyprus tightened restrictions, including a requirement for people to send a text message when they plan to leave home. Sweden will quickly implement a new law enabling mandatory shutdowns previously shunned by the government, while Greece is extending until Jan. 18 all national lockdown restrictions with the exception of kindergartens and primary schools.

EU May Approve AstraZeneca-Oxford Shot by Month End (8:25 p.m. HK)

The European Union could approve the Covid-19 vaccine from AstraZeneca Plc and the University of Oxford by the end of January.

An application for authorization will likely be made next week, the bloc’s drug regulator said in a tweet Friday. The U.K. gave the first shots of the vaccine on Jan. 4 in a race against a faster-spreading variant of the virus.

U.S. Breaks Death Record for Second Straight Day (8:20 p.m. HK)

The U.S. topped 4,000 daily fatalities for the first time on Thursday, also breaking a record for deaths for the second consecutive day, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University and Bloomberg.

Another 277,475 new cases were reported nationally on Thursday, among the highest numbers for the entire pandemic, as states report of a surge of cases following the holidays. Hospitalizations also hit a record of 132,370, according to the Covid Tracking Project.

Europe Doubles Pfizer-BioNTech Vaccine Supplies (6:30 p.m. HK)

The European Union has secured an additional 300 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, doubling the total available for the bloc’s 27 member states to 600 million.

Of the new orders, 75 million will be available next quarter and the rest will arrive in the second half, according to Ursula von der Leyen, the head of the EU’s executive arm. The EU has come under pressure from governments due to the slow roll-out of vaccination programs.

Germany Reports Record Daily Death Toll (2:45 p.m. HK)

Germany’s death toll from the coronavirus rose by the most since the pandemic began, topping 1,000 for a third straight day after Chancellor Angela Merkel warned the toughest months still lie ahead.

Fatalities have more than doubled since the start of December and increased by another 1,152 in the 24 hours through Friday morning, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. Total infections rose by 45,333, close to the daily record of 49,044 on Dec. 31, to 1.89 million.

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