UK gears up for huge vaccination plan watched by the world
[AlAhram] The coronavirus vaccine developed by American drugmaker Pfizer and Germany's BioNTech was being sent to hospitals across the U.K. in super-cold containers on Sunday, two days ahead of the kickoff of Britain's biggest-ever immunization program, one being closely watched around the world.
Around 800,000 doses of the vaccine are expected to be in place for the start of the rollout on Tuesday
Last week the U.K. became the first country to authorize the Pfizer-BioNtech vaccine for emergency use. In trials, the vaccine was shown to have around 95% efficacy. Vaccinations will be administered starting Tuesday at around 50 hospital hubs in England. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland will also begin their vaccination rollouts the same day.
Governments and health agencies around the world will be monitoring the British vaccination program to note its successes and failures and adjust their own plans accordingly. The United States hopes to start vaccinations later this month. British regulatory authorities are also examining data on vaccines made by Moderna and AstraZeneca-Oxford University.
The excitement in Britain, which has Europe's highest virus-related death toll at more than 61,000, was palpable.
Patients aged 80 and above who are already attending hospitals as outpatients and those being discharged after a stay in the hospital will be among the first to receive the jab in Britain. Hospitals will also start inviting over 80s in for a vaccine shot and will work with nursing homes to book staff into vaccination clinics. Any appointments not taken up will be offered to those health workers deemed to be at the highest risk of serious illness from COVID-19. Everyone who is vaccinated will need a booster jab 21 days later.
The U.K. has secured 40 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine, which can cover 20 million people. Since the British government will only immunize people over 16, around 55 million people in the U.K. will be eligible.
Iran may not see a coronavirus vaccine for two years - health commission
[Jpost] Bakhtabadi told the state-run Iran Students News Agency (ISNA) that "people of Iran should know that there is no coronavirus vaccine available for them at the moment."
"European countries have already purchased the vaccine and are set to use it. So, it will not be Iran's turn soon," Bakhtabadi said, according to the report. "Transportation of the coronavirus vaccine also has its specific complications," Bakhtabadi noted, adding that "Iran should rule out the import of vaccines from the United States."
However, these comments are contrast to Health Minister Saeed Namakis' remarks that Iran is in the midst of securing 18 million doses of the vaccine from European nations. According to the Radio Farda report, the minister said Iran had secured "four sources" to purchase the doses from.
Iran's total deaths from coronavirus surpassed 50,000 on Saturday, with more than one million people infected, although transmission rates in the Middle East's worst-affected country are slowing, state TV reported.
EgyptAir ready to transport coronavirus vaccine
[AlAhram] Most of the vaccines on the horizon need to be kept at very low temperatures, especially the one made by Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech, which must be kept at a temperature of about -70C.
The transportation process will be carried out using refrigerated containers to keep the doses at the required temperatures before they are discharged from the planes, Zakariya noted.
He added that they can then be warehoused at a refrigerated yard the company owns before being delivered to their final destinations.
Russia's sovereign wealth fund has agreed in September to supply 25 million doses of its potential COVID-19 vaccine to Egypt via Pharco, one of the country's leading pharmaceutical groups.
Egypt's Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly has also recently delegated the Ministers of Health and Finance to take the necessary measures and procedures to contract GAVI, the vaccine alliance, to provide the country with a 20 million-dose batch of the coronavirus (aka COVID19 or Chinese Plague)
...the twenty first century equivalent of bubonic plague, only instead of killing off a third of the population of Europe it kills 3.4 percent of those who notice they have it. It seems to be fond of the elderly, especially Iranian politicians and holy men...vaccine.
GAVI aims to guarantee rapid and fair access to COVID-19 vaccines worldwide, mainly for middle-income and under-developed countries.
The amount would cover up to 20 percent of the country's needs, with priority given to medical staff and those most vulnerable to the disease, according to previous remarks by Health Minister Hala Zayed.
Egyptian Cabinet Spokesman Nader Saad, however, said Egypt will not receive any doses before the first half of 2021 since GAVI already has a long list of requests from different countries to get the much-awaited vaccine. Saad added that GAVI is also waiting for the trial vaccines to obtain the necessary emergency approval from the World Health Organization (WHO) to fulfil the countries’ demands.
Coronavirus has caused the death of 6,750 people and infected a total of 118,014 in Egypt.
The UK and Bahrain have granted an emergency-use authorisation for a coronavirus vaccine made by Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech.
Moscow aims to vaccinate 7 million as daily cases rise
[Jpost] Moscow wants to vaccinate up to seven million people, its Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said, as Russia on Sunday reported yet another record high number of new COVID-19 cases.
Moscow began distributing its Sputnik V COVID-19 shot via 70 clinics on Saturday to the most exposed groups, marking Russia's first large-scale vaccination against the disease.
Russia reported a record daily increase of 29,039 new cases, taking the national total to 2,460,770 since the pandemic began, while the official national death toll rose to 43,141.
Russia, which has the world's fourth-highest number of coronavirus cases, puts high hopes on its vaccines but some scientists have raised concerns about the speed at which it gave the regulatory go-ahead and launched mass inoculations.
| The Times of Israel adds: |
Health Ministry wants to vaccinate 2 million Israelis in six-week drive – report
[IsraelTimes] Officials ask HMOs to put together plan to administer jabs as soon as enough vaccines are available in the country
The first Israelis expected to be vaccinated are those working in medical services, the elderly and people at especially high risk.
On Friday, Israel signed an agreement with Moderna to triple the number of vaccines the American pharmaceutical company will supply. The original agreement for two million doses was expanded to six million — enough for three million Israelis.
TV networks reported Thursday that Israel is also set to receive up to four million doses of Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine by the end of this month — enough for two million people. The combined five million vaccines would be enough to inoculate over half of Israel’s population of nine million.
Israel is also in talks with other companies to obtain their vaccines and is working, at a slower pace on its own home-produced immunization.
There are 13,149 active coronavirus patients in Israel, according to Health Ministry figure released Sunday evening. Since the start of the outbreak earlier this year there have been 344,798 people diagnosed with the coronavirus and 2,915 have died from COVID-19, the disease it causes.
Inoculation will likely last long, get immediate okay, US vaccine boss says
[IsraelTimes] The head of the US vaccine development effort says he believes the COVID-19 vaccine could have long-lasting effect once distributed.
Dr. Moncef Slaoui tells CNN’s “State of the Union” that only time will tell for certain, but that, in his opinion, the vaccine’s effectiveness could last for “many, many years,” with older people and others who are more vulnerable requiring a booster every three to five years.
He says that one of the hallmarks of immune systems is memory, so the body’s response to the coronavirus will be much faster once vaccinated.
He says that once 70 to 80% of the population is vaccinated, “the virus will go down.”