N.J. to Expand Eligibility; Global Cases Jump: Virus Update

(Bloomberg) -- New Jersey will expand vaccination access to people 55 and over, those with intellectual and developmental disabilities and higher-education workers on April 5. Face masks, hand sanitizer and disinfectant wipes can qualify as medical expenses for tax deductions, the Internal Revenue Service announced.

Germany raised its warning on France after a rapid increase in cases there as the European Union’s two biggest countries try to deal with a resurgent pandemic. New infections are on the rise around the world.

The former head of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said he thinks the coronavirus originated in a lab in Wuhan, China, and began spreading as early as September of 2019. The World Health Organization is due to release a report on the virus’s origins this month.

Key Developments:

Subscribe to a daily update on the virus from Bloomberg’s Prognosis team here. Click CVID on the terminal for global data on cases and deaths.

Shot Production Hitting U.S. Goals (12:10 p.m. NY)

The U.S. will have received 240 million doses of vaccine by the end of this month, enough to fully inoculate 130 million people, with Pfizer Inc., Moderna Inc. and Johnson & Johnson all on pace to hit quarterly production targets, a senior White House aide said.

The administration expects at least 11 million doses from J&J next week, putting them on track to hit their mark of 20 million doses by the end of March, Jeff Zients, Covid-19 response coordinator for President Joe Biden, said Friday in a briefing. J&J’s vaccine is the most recently authorized of the three in the U.S. and its production is still scaling up.

N.J. to Expand Vaccine Eligibility (12:04 p.m. NY)

New Jersey will expand vaccination access to people 55 and over, those with intellectual and developmental disabilities and higher-education workers on April 5, Governor Phil Murphy announced.

The state also will be among three opening a Federal Emergency Management Agency mass vaccination center. The New Jersey site, opening in Newark on March 29, will operate for at least eight weeks, with capacity of 6,000 doses per day. It will target under-served communities in the state’s largest city, whose population is 50% Black and 36% Hispanic.

Masks, Sanitizer Now Tax Write-offs (11:48 a.m. NY)

Face masks, hand sanitizer and disinfectant wipes can qualify as medical expenses for tax deductions or can be paid for with money from tax-advantaged health accounts, the Internal Revenue Service announced Friday.

“The purchase of personal protective equipment, such as masks, hand sanitizer and sanitizing wipes, for the primary purpose of preventing the spread of coronavirus are deductible medical expenses,” agency said in a statement.

Virus Came From Lab: Ex-CDC Chief (11:41 a.m. NY)

A former top U.S. health official says he thinks the coronavirus originated in a lab in Wuhan, China, and began spreading as early as September 2019.

Robert Redfield, who led the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention during the first year of the Covid-19 pandemic, told CNN in a clip aired Friday that he thinks that scenario is more likely than any alternative, including that the virus erupted after transferring from animals to humans or in a live-animal market.

The most likely origin “was from a laboratory -- you know, escaped,” said Redfield, who served during former President Donald Trump’s administration. The World Health Organization is due to release a report on its origins this month, informed by a team of 17 international scientists.

Germany Raises Warning on France (11:10 a.m. NY)

Germany raised its warning on France after a rapid rise in cases there as the European Union’s two biggest countries try to deal with a resurgent pandemic that’s compounding political damage from chaotic vaccination rollouts.

France is now rated a high-incidence virus area, Germany’s health authority RKI said in an update on travel recommendations. The move means that travelers from France require a negative Covid test before entering.

Meanwhile, France extended a lockdown to three additional regions.

South Africa to Tighten Curbs (9:53 a.m. NY)

South Africa is likely to extend a curfew and tighten restrictions on public gatherings over the upcoming Easter holiday period in a bid to curb a third wave of coronavirus infections, according to two people familiar with the matter.

A panel overseeing the response to the pandemic met Thursday to discuss options to contain its spread, balancing the health risks against the economic fallout, said the people, who asked not to be identified as the plans are still private.

Mabion to Speed Vaccine Production (8:41 a.m. NY)

Poland’s Mabion SA expects to start commercial production of Novavax Inc.’s coronavirus vaccine quickly after it completes test trials around mid-2021 in what could be the start of multiyear cooperation between the companies.

There is “great interest” by Novavax to start production as soon as possible and its scientists are in Konstantynow Lodzki, central Poland, helping to get the process on track, Mabion board member Adam Pietruszkiewicz said in an interview.

Brazil Unveils Its Own Vaccine (8:40 a.m. NY)

Brazil’s Butantan Institute has developed its own Covid-19 vaccine, which it plans to roll out in the coming months and offer to low income countries to help fight the pandemic.

Sao Paulo-based Butantan, which has partnered with China’s Sinovac Biotech Ltd. to produce the CoronaVac shot, will begin trials for its own vaccine -- dubbed the ButanVac -- with plans to have supplies ready by July, the institute’s director Dimas Covas said at a press conference on Friday.

Kenya Tightens Restrictions (8:33 a.m. NY)

Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta announced new lockdown measures to check the spread of a third wave of Covid-19 infections, after cases spiked in five counties.

“Kenya is squarely in the grip of the third wave of this pandemic,” Kenyatta said in a televised address. “The death rate is devastating by all measures.”

Glaxo, Vir Seek Emergency Approval (8:30 a.m. NY)

GlaxoSmithKline Plc and Vir Biotechnology Inc. applied for emergency-use authorization in the U.S. for their Covid-19 antibody treatment following late-stage results that showed it was highly effective, the companies said Friday.

GSK and Vir said they will continue discussions with the European Medicines Agency and other regulators to make the treatment -- VIR-7831 -- available to patients with Covid-19 as soon as possible.

Rome Hospital to Test Sputnik (8:16 a.m. NY)

Rome’s Spallanzani hospital and Gamaleya Institute will after Easter conduct “dual testing” on the Russian-made Sputnik vaccine, Ansa news agency reports, citing unnamed sources.

The study will focus on efficacy against variants, especially the Brazilian, South African and U.K. ones, and on the use of Sputnik as a booster for patients who’ve received a first dose of a vaccine with a similar structure, possibly including AstraZeneca’s.

Worst Region Struggles With Curbs (8:09 a.m. NY)

Parts of Eastern Europe, currently the world’s deadliest region for Covid-19, are facing increasing pushback against extensions to curbs on daily life designed to halt the spread of the virus.

As a third wave of the disease sweeps across the continent, 10 of the 11 worst-hit countries are located in the east, where adherence to restrictions has fallen short and years of under-investment in health-care is being felt in some nations.

Study Finds Robust Response for Pfizer (7:58 a.m. NY)

A new study led by Sheffield and Oxford universities with support from the U.K. Coronavirus Immunology Consortium has found that 99% of people generate a robust immune response against Covid-19 after just one dose of the Pfizer vaccine, according to an emailed statement.

The study shows that levels of protection were “even stronger after two doses, underlining the importance of people coming forward for their second dose.”

Norway Extends Astra Suspension (7:37 a.m. NY)

Norway extended a temporary pause of its use of AstraZeneca’s vaccine until April 15 in order to gather more information about why a small number of people developed blood clots, hemorrhages and low platelet counts.

While the move will delay the country’s Covid-19 inoculation program by 1 to 2 weeks, it’s necessary to weigh the benefits of vaccination against the risk of rare but serious side effects from continued use, Geir Bukholm, head of infection at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health, said in a statement.

EMA Recommends Celltrion Drug (7:22 a.m. NY)

The European Medicines Agency concluded that Celltrion’s regdanvimab can be used for the treatment of confirmed Covid-19 in adult patients who do not require supplemental oxygen therapy and who are at high risk of progressing to severe Covid-19.

Results from the first part of trial indicate that regdanvimab may lower the rate of hospitalisation, but the results were not robust enough to reach a firm conclusion on the medicine’s benefits.

Corning Making Vials for Billion Doses (7:11 a.m. NY)

Corning will use $57 million in funding from the U.S. government to increase production of glass vials for Covid-19 vaccines, Dow Jones reports, citing the company’s VP and GM of pharmaceutical technologies Brendan Mosher.

Corning now expects to produce 150m vials this year, up 50% from a previous forecast. The vials will be able to hold about 1.2 billion vaccine doses.

Philippine Adults Don’t Want Vaccine (6:09 a.m. NY)

About 61% of Filipino adults don’t want to get any Covid-19 vaccine, with concern about the safety of the shots as the leading reason, according to a survey by pollster Pulse Asia Research Inc.

Greece to Allow Vaccinated Visitors From Israel (3:57 p.m. HK)

Greece will allow vaccinated visitors from Israel to enter the country without a seven-day quarantine, currently in place for all incoming travelers. Israeli visitors must carry a vaccination passport issued by the government, proving they completed their vaccination at least 14 days before they travel and have a negative Covid-19 test carried out in the last 72 hours.

Indonesia Seeks South Korea, Qatar Bubble (2:44 p.m. HK)

Indonesia is in talks with South Korea and Qatar to set up a travel bubble, Coordinating Minister for Investment and Maritime Affairs Luhut Pandjaitan told reporters in a virtual briefing on Friday without giving details. The government is working on a plan to inoculate about 3 million of Bali residents in July.

Moscow Residents’ Immunity Rising (2:53 p.m. HK)

Some 43% to 44% of Moscow residents have Covid-19 antibodies, a level that allows the Russian capital to return to a relatively normal pace of life, with a minimum of restrictions, Ria Novosti reported Friday, citing Deputy Mayor Anastasia Rakova.

The figure suggests there have been many more cases in the city of 12.7 million than officially reported. About a million people in Moscow have been diagnosed with Covid-19 and another million have received at least one dose of a vaccine.

Airlines at Risk of Another Lost Summer (2:05 p.m. HK)

The latest setbacks to the return of air travel are stoking concern a fresh cash crunch is about to bear down on the airline industry. In just the past week, the optimism that took the Bloomberg World Airlines Index to the highest since the start of the pandemic has evaporated. And a second summer lost to the crisis would likely trigger a spate of airline failures and bankruptcy filings.

“The ground is shifting from one day to the next,” said Stuart Hatcher at consultants IBA Group. Governments are aware that pushing back the reopening of travel will mean more pain for the aviation industry but have been spooked by resurgent infection rates even as vaccine rollouts continue, he said.

©2021 Bloomberg L.P.