Australian State Faces Lockdown; U.S. Orders Doses: Virus Update

(Bloomberg) -- Australia’s second-most populous state will enter a five-day lockdown after a spike in cases, with movements in Victoria to be restricted from late Friday night. The decision is likely to affect the Australian Open tennis tournament underway in the capital of Melbourne.

A panel from Japan’s health ministry could approve the use of Pfizer Inc.’s vaccine as soon as Friday night, NHK reported, while the country’s point person for coronavirus policy said it’s necessary to maintain a state of emergency for areas that include Tokyo and Osaka.

President Joe Biden announced that the U.S. has finished deals for 100 million additional vaccine doses each from Pfizer and Moderna Inc., and that the companies would deliver new and existing orders quicker than projected. U.S. vaccine supply should increase enough by April to allow anyone who wants a shot to begin getting one, said Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease doctor.

Key Developments:

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Australia’s Victoria State to Enter 5-Day Lockdown on Outbreak (10:20 a.m. HK)

Australia’s Victoria state will enter a snap five-day lockdown from midnight after an outbreak of the virulent U.K. strain of the coronavirus from a quarantine hotel spread.

“We must assume that there are further cases in the community than we have positive results for, and that it is moving at a velocity that has not been seen anywhere in our country over the course of these last 12 months,” state Premier Daniel Andrews told reporters on Friday.

Mexico Covid-19 Deaths Rise 1,474 to Total 171,234 (9:14 a.m. HK)

Mexico reported a daily rise of 1,474 Covid-19 deaths, bringing the total to 171,234, according to data released by the Health Ministry.

The country is in the process of deploying vaccines with more than 700,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine administered. More than 85,000 have received a second dose.

Venezuela Seeks $300 Million Fund for Covid-19 Vaccines, Maduro Says (8:39 a.m. HK)

Venezuela is seeking to create a $300 million fund for Covid-19 vaccines, President Nicolas Maduro said on state television.

The government is seeking a “practical and effective agreement” to create the fund with the Pan American Health Organization and the World Health Organization, he said.

Japan Seeks to Keep Virus Emergency in Place for 10 Regions (8:19 a.m. HK)

Japanese Economy Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura told a government advisory panel that it’s necessary to maintain a state of emergency for 10 areas of the country, including Tokyo and Osaka.

Nishimura said the medical system is still under strain and the number of elderly people with infections isn’t dropping.

Common Blood Thinner Reduces Risk of Covid-19 Hospital Deaths (8:01 a.m. HK)

Blood-thinning drugs reduced the risk of death from Covid-19 in a new study, pointing to one more promising tool as physicians scour their medicine cabinets for treatments to blunt the pandemic.

About 14% of patients who were given anticoagulants within 24 hours of hospital admission died from the coronavirus, compared with 19% of those who didn’t, according to a study published Friday in the British Medical Journal. The patients were treated with heparin, an injected blood-thinner sold by generic-drug makers including Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd.

The study is based on observation, which means the results need to be confirmed by clinical trials and some are underway, the scientists said.

U.K. Ministers to Discuss Vaccine, Testing Certificates, Sky Says (8:00 a.m. HK)

U.K. ministers will discuss a Cabinet Office proposal to create vaccine and testing certificates for when international travel is able to resume, Sky News reported, citing an unidentified government official and briefing paper.

The Department of Transport would draw up plans for a certificate infrastructure and the Foreign Office will help design the international certificate system, Sky said. Formal engagement with other countries and international organizations will also begin with Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab to sign off on the proposal ahead of a meeting with other ministers.

Covid, Border Closures Could See 900,000 Fewer Immigrants to Australia (7:51 a.m. HK)

The pandemic and Australia’s decision to close its borders could see 900,000 fewer immigrants to the country through fiscal 2023, which will impact the nation’s economic growth, the Parliamentary Budget Office said in a release Friday.

“A smaller working age population feeds through to lower economic growth. This restricted growth is reflected in downward revisions for every major head of revenue,” the PBO said.

U.S. Hospitalizations Lowest Since November (7:05 a.m. HK)

U.S. hospitalizations for the coronavirus plunged about 16% so far in February, dropping to the lowest since mid-November, data from the Department of Health and Human Services show. The number of Covid-19 in-patients fell to 82,064 as Feb. 10, an average reduction of 1,709 a day since Feb. 1. Arizona, Utah, New Mexico, California and Ohio led the declines. Hospitalizations in New York increased 6% to 8,754 over the nine-day period, with Covid-19 cases accounting for about 18% of in-patients. Covid cases account for 19% of hospital patients in California and Georgia, HHS data show.

Japan Panel Set to Approve Pfizer’s Vaccine on Friday, NHK Reports (7:03 a.m. HK)

Japan’s health ministry panel is expected to approve the use of Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine on Friday, public broadcaster NHK reported citing unidentified person.

The panel starts meeting at 6 pm local time and approval would pave the way for the government to officially approve the vaccine “soon,” NHK said. That comes as a clinical trial in Japan of 160 patients confirmed an increase in virus-neutralizing antibodies, it said. Kyodo separately reported that the official approval by the ministry would come on Sunday, bringing forward the decision by one day.

South African Variant Reported in Illinois, North Carolina (6:54 a.m. HK)

Illinois and and North Carolina became the latest U.S. states to report cases of the coronavirus variant that was first found in South Africa. Trials have shown that vaccines are generally less effective against this strain.

CDC Says Severe Reactions to Vaccines Rare (5:32 p.m. NY)

New data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show allergic reactions to Covid-19 are rare and anaphylaxis, one type of severe reaction, occurs in 2 to 5 people for every million vaccinated in the U.S.

The update from the CDC draws on data from the agency’s system to monitor vaccine side effects. When anaphylaxis occurs it is almost always within half an hour of administering the vaccine, the CDC said.

The system hasn’t found any link between Covid vaccines and death, the agency said on its website. The agency said 41 million doses of Covid vaccines from Pfizer Inc. and Moderna Inc. were administered in the U.S. through Feb. 7.

Biden Says Deals Clinched for 200 Million More Doses (5:14 p.m. NY)

President Joe Biden announced that the U.S. has finished deals for 100 million additional vaccine doses each from Pfizer Inc. and Moderna Inc., and that the companies would deliver new and existing orders quicker than projected.

While the orders had been previously announced, the delivery dates for the additional vaccine doses were moved up to the end of July, Biden said in remarks Thursday at the National Institutes of Health. Delivery of a previously ordered batch was also sped up, to the end of May from the end of June.

“We’ve now purchased enough vaccine supply to vaccinate all Americans,” Biden said in a speech in which he offered harsh criticism of former President Donald Trump’s handling of the vaccine program.

Ohio Curfew Lifted as Hospital Burden Eases (4:11 p.m. NY)

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine said vaccinations of nursing-home patients have helped cut the number of hospitalized Covid-19 patients, allowing the state to lift a daily curfew in force since November.

Nursing-home residents account for more than half of Ohio’s deaths, which state officials revised upward to 12,577 on Thursday after what DeWine called a data reconciliation issue.

Amazon Hires Founders of Testing Startup to Curb Spread (4:09 p.m. NY)

Amazon.com Inc. has hired several employees of a Covid-19 testing startup as part of efforts to curb outbreaks among its workers.

Caspr Biotech’s co-founders, Chief Executive Officer Franco Goytia and Chief Strategy Officer Carla Gimenez, joined Amazon in December, according to a person familiar with the situation. The pair, along with several other startup employees, are working on a project codenamed Artemis. It’s unclear whether Amazon acquired Caspr Biotech.

In a shareholder letter in April, Chief Executive Officer Jeff Bezos said the company had begun building a lab to test employees for Covid-19.

L.A. Vaccine Shortage to Close Dodger Stadium, Other Sites (3:25 p.m. NY)

Los Angeles is expected to run out of Covid-19 vaccine on Thursday and will shut Dodger Stadium and four other mass vaccination sites on Friday and Saturday while waiting for more doses to arrive.

“We’re vaccinating people faster than new vials are arriving,” Mayor Eric Garcetti said in a video address on Wednesday. “Our vaccine supply is uneven, it’s unpredictable and too often inequitable.” The mayor said second doses wouldn’t be affected by the closures.

States and cities around the nation have complained that supply is far less than demand and local ability to get shots into arms. President Biden has promised to increase supply, a vow that Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease doctor, repeated on Thursday.

Ireland Vaccine May Be Showing Results (1:58 p.m. NY)

Ireland may be seeing the first impact of the vaccines on case numbers among health-care workers, a government adviser said. New cases among that cohort are below what would be expected given the spread of the virus in the wider community, Dr Karina Butler who advises the government on its vaccine program, told reporters in Dublin. Authorities are overall “cautiously optimistic” on the virus’s spread, deputy Chief Medical Officer Ronan Glynn said, with hospitalizations now less than half the peak of mid-January. Ireland reported 866 new virus cases on Thursday, with 52 deaths.

Fauci Predicts Vaccines Open to Everyone by April (11:24 a.m. NY)

Anthony Fauci predicted an increasing supply of vaccines will allow for “much more of a mass vaccination approach” in the U.S. by April, allowing anyone who wants a shot to get one.

“I would imagine by the time we get to April that will be what I would call for better wording, open season,” the nation’s top infectious disease doctor said on NBC’s “Today Show.” “Namely virtually everybody and anybody in any category could start to get vaccinated.”

He cautioned however that it would take several more months logistically to meet demand.

He also said that the spread of coronavirus variants is “sobering” but said the “uplifting news” is that the current vaccines appear effective on the rapidly spreading variant first found in the U.K.

Demand High as Pharmacies Offer Vaccine (11:09 a.m. NY)

Nearly 20,000 Covid-19 vaccine appointments at CVS Health Corp. stores in New Jersey were booked within an hour Thursday as a national pharmacy expansion rolled out.

About 1 million shots are available at nearly two dozen pharmacy chains across the country through a federal program that started Thursday. CVS, Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc., Rite Aid Corp. are among participating companies. The initiative will boost the number of doses that are available to the general public.

CVS will receive about 250,000 doses divided across 11 states, the company said. In New Jersey, that means 19,900 are available at CVS stores throughout the state. Each participating Rite Aid store will initially receive 100 doses of Moderna Inc.’s Covid-19 vaccine, the company said. Rite Aid will administer shots in five states and two cities.

Germany to Restrict Travel With Neighbors (8:47 a.m. NY)

Germany plans to impose restrictions on travel from Austria and the Czech Republic over concerns about aggressive mutations of the coronavirus, potentially disrupting cross-country commuters and commerce. The German states of Bavaria and Saxony have asked the federal government to establish border controls with the neighboring countries, Bavarian Premier Markus Soeder said on Thursday.

Variant Spread in Europe Increasing, WHO Says (6:30 a.m. NY)

The decline in overall cases conceals increasing numbers of outbreaks and community spread involving variants of concern, according to Hans Kluge, the World Health Organization’s regional director for Europe.

The strain first identified in South Africa late last year has now been identified in 19 countries, and most of those are linked to travel. While community transmission in Europe is not yet widespread, the variant has been increasingly linked to outbreaks in communities, Kluge said.

Merkel Warns Mutations Could Wreck Progress (4:24 p.m. HK)

Chancellor Angela Merkel warned that aggressive coronavirus mutations will gain the upper hand in Germany, threatening to destroy progress made in containing the pandemic. Europe’s largest economy needs to maintain tight controls even as contagion rates steadily decline and immunizations slowly ramp up, Merkel said Thursday in a speech to parliament in Berlin.

Merkel and Germany’s 16 state premiers agreed late Wednesday to extend most virus restrictions until March 7, while opening a pathway to a gradual return to some semblance of normality after months of stringent curbs.

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