Overseas Report Monday 23rd August 2021

 

by Mike Evans

In this report we are looking at how some parts of the world are coping with the increase in cases of the new Delta Variant and also at the situation regarding vaccines across the world.

We start with Canada, With Ontario seeing more than three straight weeks of growth in daily COVID-19 cases — primarily in people who have not been vaccinated — the province is “most definitely” in a fourth wave, says a top doctor with the government’s science advisory table.

And with the number of new cases currently doubling every 10 days, Dr. Peter Juni, scientific director of the science table, warns the province could see as many as 1,200 new cases per day by the time school resumes in less than a month. That’s up from a current average of just over 300. The States Capital, Toronto is in the early days of a fourth wave of COVID-19 fuelled by the Delta variant, and is certain to worsen this autumn, experts say after an almost fivefold jump in daily new infections over one month. The numbers of new cases, hospitalizations and ICU admissions vary widely in different areas of the government’s data. The ministry said it’s due to different data collection and reporting processes. But in general, it shows that roughly 80 per cent of the cases, hospitalizations and ICU admissions are in unvaccinated and partially vaccinated people.

The question on many officials’ minds is how to ensure the city’s high vaccination rate prevents hospitalizations and deaths from surging along with infections, especially among the legions of unvaccinated young schoolchildren headed back to classrooms.

Defences include continued mask rules and, if necessary, shutting schools and businesses to halt outbreaks, said Toronto infectious diseases expert Dr. Anna Banerji. But she said the best defence is vaccine mandates — a measure the Ontario government is so far rejecting.

More than 81 percent of eligible Ontarians have received at least one dose and nearly 72 per cent are fully vaccinated. Moore noted that Ontario is getting close to the thresholds it has set for moving past Step 3, and he expects those targets will be met in a week to 10 days.

Across the world to the country that was at the front when it came to early vaccination of its citizens. Israel, once a global leader in coronavirus containment, has one of the highest daily infection rates in the world.

Nearly one in every 150 people in Israel today has the virus. An average of nearly 7,500 people are infected per day — double the infection rate of two weeks ago. The new surge has Israeli leaders scrambling to bring back mask mandates and restrict gatherings as case rates come close to the worst days of last winter.

Globally, scientists are studying infection rates among Israel’s vaccinated to understand how the vaccine holds up over time. The findings have not been encouraging, setting off a wave of booster panic around the world. Nearly 80% of Israeli adults are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, which constitutes 58% of the country’s relatively young population, according to NPR. Over half of the population was fully vaccinated by March 25, and for a moment, it looked like the country was on its way to herd immunity.

But the rising case rates in Israel may indicate that the protection afforded by vaccines wanes over time. Health officials and Pfizer scientists noted a lapse in protection six to eight months after the second shot, which was timed right around the Delta variant’s arrival in Israel this summer. Half of the seriously ill COVID patients currently hospitalized in Israel were fully vaccinated five or more months ago. Most of them are over 60 years old and have comorbidities, putting them at a higher risk of developing severe illness. Along with renewed efforts to encourage mask-wearing and restrict gatherings, Israel is fighting back the virus by offering booster shots to older adults.

Israel rolled out its booster campaign at the start of August. Adults aged 60 and older who completed their vaccine course at least five months ago are now eligible for a third Pfizer-BioNTech shot. Israel’s move to begin offering boosters set off a wave of wealthy countries doing the same. The US, the UK, Germany, and France are all either prepared or approved to start rolling out booster shots in September. The vaccines are still effective at preventing severe illness, hospitalization, and death due to COVID-19 in most groups, so some experts argue it makes more sense to focus on vaccinating the unvaccinated.

To back up this drive for further vaccinations the authorities this week start a A national antibody survey among 3- to 12-year-olds is slated to kick off on Sunday in municipalities around the country, in a bid to measure the extent to which the coronavirus spread undetected among the country’s children over the past year and a half. The survey is a joint project of the Health Ministry, the Education Ministry and the IDF Home Front Command, with assistance from local authorities and educational institutions. Some 1,400 Home Front Command teams will conduct blood tests at locations around the country, in a bid to reach as many of Israel’s 1.4 million children as possible.

The test is conducted via a finger prick, and provides results within 15 minutes. Unlike previous antibody surveys, which were conducted to learn about asymptomatic infections within crowded communities, this one is supposed to have a concrete and immediate impact on those tested. The assumption is that many children were infected over the past year and a half but showed no symptoms, and therefore were never diagnosed.

Israel’s authorities hope that a significant proportion of children ages 3-12, who are not currently eligible for vaccination, will be found to have antibodies and will thus be eligible for a Green Pass, exempting them from mandatory isolation should they be exposed to someone COVID-positive, and from COVID-19 testing which is now mandatory in order to enter sites and attractions. They will be able to maintain their daily routine, including attending school, and will reduce the burden on the education and healthcare systems. According to data published by the Health Ministry, the number of serious cases increased by 45 and now stands at 666, including 150 in critical condition and 104 on ventilators. On Saturday, 1,467 new cases were recorded, with a positive test rate of 5.11 percent. The COVID-19 infection rate known as the R number – the average number of people each coronavirus carrier infects – dropped to 1.2 and eight people have died from the virus over the weekend.

Finally we turn to the situation regarding vaccines. The head of the World Health Organisation (WHO) called earlier this month for a moratorium on booster doses of COVID-19 vaccines so that those vaccines can be made available to countries that have only been able to inoculate a small proportion of their population.

Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters that although “hundreds of millions of people are still waiting for their first dose, some rich countries are moving towards booster doses” — a dose to be administered after a full vaccination course. Several countries including France, Germany, and Israel have started administering booster doses. Britain and the US are reportedly considering it as well.

“I understand the concern of all governments to protect their own people from the Delta variant. But we cannot accept countries that have already used most of the global supply of vaccines using even more of it, while the world’s most vulnerable remain protected,” he added. Dr. Tedros also stressed that of the more than 4 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines administered so far globally, more than 80% had gone to high- and upper-middle-income countries, which account for less than half of the global population.

According to WHO, high-income countries have now administered almost 100 doses for every 100 people, while low-income countries have only been able to administer 1.5 doses for every 100 people.

“We need an urgent reversal, from the majority of vaccines going to high-income countries, to the majority going to low-income countries,” he said. “Accordingly, WHO is calling for a moratorium on boosters until at least the end of September, to enable at least 10% of the population of every country to be vaccinated,” he went on.He highlighted that the world’s 20 biggest economies — collectively known as the G20 — have a “vital leadership role to play, as the countries that are the biggest producers, the biggest consumers and the biggest donors of COVID-19 vaccines.”

WHO officials say the science is unproven about whether giving booster shots to people who have already received two vaccine doses is effective in preventing the spread of the coronavirus.

The WHO has been denouncing the unequal distribution of vaccine doses for months, criticising for instance, countries that have moved to offer the vaccine to all children above the age of 12, when lower-income countries have struggled to immunise their health care professionals.

The UN agency in May set the target of inoculating 10% of the population in every country by the end of September. The WHO chief said Wednesday that “we’re not on track” to reach the target.

The world has a long way to go yet to see the end of this crisis so until the next time Stay Safe.

https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/israel-kicks-off-covid-antibody-testing-of-1-4-million-children-1.10138637https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/weekly-trends/#countrieshttps://www.euronews.com/2021/08/04/who-calls-for-covid-booster-jab-moratorium-to-accelerate-vaccination-in-poorer-countries