Aviation Rebound Stalls; U.S. Mandates Multiply: Virus Update

(Bloomberg) -- Vaccination requirements were set in the U.S. by a wide swath of groups -- from companies such as Chevron Corp. to New York City schools to the Pentagon -- after regulators gave full approval to the vaccine made by Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE. President Joe Biden called on companies to mandate shots for workers. 

The move is also expected to sway holdouts in the Black and Hispanic communities. Meanwhile, the seven-day average death toll in the U.S. topped 1,000 on two straight days for the first time since March.

In Asia, Indonesia eased some restrictions late Monday but an official said some curbs will remain as long as the pandemic persists. Chinese airlines plan to operate the fewest flights in August since February, according to data from Cirium, as the delta variant clouds the industry’s outlook.

The positive test rate jumped in Lagos as Nigeria’s commercial hub faces a third wave of the virus. France may begin administering a third dose for the elderly early next month. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said current measures in place to curb the virus remain sufficient. 

Key Developments:

Chicago Mayor Wants Vaccine Mandates (5:25 a.m. HK)

Employees of the city of Chicago “are absolutely going to be required to be vaccinated” against Covid-19 for the safety of members of the public and colleagues, Mayor Lori Lightfoot said.

The mayor and a union representative both said talks regarding vaccinations are ongoing.

Delta Variant Scything Through Aviation (5:00 a.m. HK)

After leading the aviation industry’s recovery for much of last year, China is in retreat, with airlines offering the fewest seats in six months as authorities attempt to stamp out an outbreak. Australia’s carriers are also in reverse with more than half of the country in lockdown. 

A rare bright spot is Europe, the only place where so-called vaccine passportsare widely used.

Nigeria Epicenter’s Positive Test Rate Rises (4:55 a.m. HK)

The number of people testing positive for coronavirus has risen sharply in Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial hub and Africa’s biggest city. 

The test positivity rate jumped to 12.1% as of Aug. 21 from 7% at the end of July, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, the governor of the state, said in an emailed statement. The state has recorded a total of 135 deaths since the third wave of infections started at the end of June, when the positivity rate was 1.1%, Sanwo-Olu said. 

“We are now clearly in the middle of third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic and Lagos has remained the epicenter of the disease in Nigeria,” he said. A total of 4,387 are currently being treated for the illness in the state. 

The state plans to start a new vaccination round from Aug. 25 with 300,000 doses of Moderna vaccines it received from the federal government. 

CVS Orders Some Employees to Get Vaccinated (4:50 a.m. HK)

CVS Health Corp. is requiring workers who interact with patients, and all corporate staff, to be fully vaccinated by the end of October.

Chevron, Hess Mandate Shots for Some Workers (4:10 a.m. HK)

Chevron Corp. and Hess Corp. stepped up the oil industry’s attempts to protect workers from Covid-19 by requiring vaccines for employees who work on platforms in the Gulf of Mexico.

Chevron’s mandate applies to some onshore support personnel as well as those working offshore, the company said in a statement. Hess is requiring its employees who work in the Gulf to be fully vaccinated by Nov. 1. 

In a further sign of companies encouraging vaccinations, Schlumberger, the world’s biggest oil-services provider, said some customers are requiring its staff be vaccinated and tested prior to arriving on job sites. 

Sao Paulo to Require Shots at Restaurants (2:55 a.m. HK)

The most populous city in Latin America will begin requiring residents to have received at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine in order to enter restaurants, bars and public events.

Sao Paulo’s new “vaccine passport” rule announced by Mayor Ricardo Nunes mandates that some businesses must ensure the vaccination status of each patron in order to avoid fines, which Nunes said “won’t be cheap,” in a press conference Monday. 

Vaccination status can be proved by showing either the card given when the dose is administered or a QR code created via a web app that is expected to be launched Friday, the mayor said.

Merkel Doesn’t See Further Measures (1:35 a.m. HK)

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said current measures in place to curb the virus remain sufficient, even as infection numbers tied to the spread of the delta are on the rise. Current rules requiring people to provide proof of vaccination or recovery from Covid -- and if not, a negative test --are working, the German leader said.

“Our goal is to achieve that, to go without any further measures,” Merkel said at an event late Monday in Dusseldorf. “But we need to be vigilant.”

U.S. Daily Death Toll Tops 1,000 (10:40 p.m. HK)

The U.S. is recording more than 1,000 deaths a day from Covid-19, with the daily toll more than tripling in a month. The seven-day average of fatalities topped 1,000 on Saturday and Sunday, crossing that level for two straight days for the first time since March, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University and Bloomberg. More than 628,500 Americans have died from Covid since the pandemic began.

NYC Mandates Shots for Teachers (10:20 p.m. HK)

New York City will require its public school teachers and staff to be vaccinated, Mayor Bill de Blasio said.

The order, announced at a briefing Monday morning, supersedes a previous policy that gave teachers and staff the choice of getting vaccinated or being subject to weekly tests. The mandate will require employees to receive at least one dose by Sept. 27, two weeks into the school year. 

Indonesia Eases More Restriction (10 p.m. HK)

Indonesia will allow more cities, including the greater Jakarta area, to have dine-in services at restaurants with limited capacity and let export-oriented industries operate with a full workforce as it extends the curbs through Aug. 30. Three soccer matches will be allowed to go ahead this week with no audience. 

As the delta variant pushes Indonesia’s goal of reaching herd immunity out of reach, the government will maintain some form of virus curbs for as long as the pandemic is still happening, said Luhut Panjaitan, the coordinating minister in charge of the virus response.

Denmark Says No More Lockdowns (8:34 p.m. HK)

Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen says the country isn’t likely to see any more national lockdowns in the future after a very successful vaccine rollout and low contamination figures, she told reporters in Copenhagen on Monday.

The government expects to offer a third vaccine jab at some point and is currently investigating at what time the extra inoculation makes sense.

Separately, the government said it will spend as much as 800 million kroner ($125 million) to help Bavarian Nordic A/S finance its Covid-19 vaccine candidate. “It has shown really good results so far,” Health Minister Magnus Heunickesaid in a Copenhagen press briefing on Monday. The vaccine is expected to be approved “early next year,” he said.

More Pregnant People Hospitalized in U.S. (8 p.m. HK)

More young and healthy unvaccinated pregnant people are ending up hospitalized on ventilators during the delta-fueled spike in cases in the U.S.

Doctors across the country are reporting this trend, not seen in previous surges, largely in the South but also in states like California and Washington. As of Aug. 14, 76.2% of pregnant people were unvaccinated.

Pregnant women with Covid-19 are 15 times more likely to die, 14 times more likely to need to be intubated, and 22 times more likely to have pre-term birth than those who are uninfected, according to a study published this month in JAMA Network Open.

U.K. Orders Vaccines as Booster Shots Eyed (7:00 p.m. HK)  

The U.K. Government ordered 35 million more doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech Covid vaccine to be delivered in the second half of 2022.

It follows a previous order of 60 million shots from Pfizer in April, and comes as the government prepares to launch a booster program for those most vulnerable to Covid. Third vaccinations for vulnerable individuals over 50 could begin as early as next month after the U.K.’s Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunization issues its final advice.

“While we continue to build this wall of defence from Covid-19, it’s also vital we do everything we can to protect the country for the future too – whether that’s from the virus as we know it or new variants,” said U.K. health secretary Sajid Javid.

Indonesian New Infections, Deaths Ease (6:19 p.m. HK)

Indonesia added 9,604 new cases on Monday, the fewest in more than two months, while daily deaths numbered 842, the lowest since July 10, as the government starts to ease restrictions for shopping malls and export-oriented industries. The country still tops the world’s tally of daily Covid-19 deaths. 

Its positivity rate, a measure of how many people tested turn out positive for the virus, has improved to 12.5% from more than 30% in July. That, however, may be a function of insufficient testing and is still higher than the World Health Organization recommendation for the rate to be kept below 5%. More than 89 million vaccine doses have been administered in the world’s fourth-most populous country, with about 12% of people fully inoculated.

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