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Canada Clears J&J Vaccine; Tokyo Extends Emergency: Virus Update
(Bloomberg) — Canada licensed Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine, making it the fourth shot authorized in the country struggling to keep up with inoculations. Vaccine hesitancy in the U.S. is ebbing, including among Black Americans, according to Pew Research.Australia asked the European Union to review a decision by Italy to block a shipment of AstraZeneca Plc’s vaccine to the country. Germany reported the largest rise in new cases in a month as the country grapples with the spread of mutations.Japan extended its state of emergency by two weeks for the Tokyo region, trying to maintain a declining trend in infections as it looks to host the Olympics in about four months.Key Developments:Global Tracker: Cases pass 115.7 million; deaths exceed 2.5 millionVaccine Tracker: More than 279 million shots given worldwideU.S. states give in to lure of reopening, defying health warningsNYC’s Financial District faces office glut as tenant exits loomVaccinated workers get more office benefits than holdoutsWhere we are in hunting for the origin of Covid-19Subscribe 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.Italy Passes 3 Million Cases (11:43 a.m. NY)Italy’s total cases reached 3 million Friday, with daily infections reaching a 3-month high of 24,036. Daily fatalities remained below 300, far from the peak of almost 1,000 last year.There were more than 1,000 new intensive care patients in the past five days, taking the total to 2,525 and putting some hospitals under pressure, especially in Bologna in central Italy. The country is approaching the alarm threshold of 250 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, said the head of Italy’s public health institute Silvio Brusaferro.WHO Calls to Waive Vaccine Patents (11:40 a.m. NY)WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said he welcomes a proposal from South Africa and India to trigger World Trade Organization rules that allow patents to be waived in a pandemic.“If now is not a time to use them, when? These are unprecedented times,” Tedros told reporters during an online briefing from WHO’s headquarters in Geneva. “We believe and the WHO believes now is the time to to trigger that provision and waive patent rights.”U.S. Warming to Vaccines: Survey (11:27 a.m. NY)Covid-19 vaccine hesitancy in the U.S. is ebbing, including among Black Americans, while partisan differences in people’s intention to get vaccinated is widening, according to Pew Research.While 39% said in November they probably or definitely wouldn’t get a shot, that number declined to 30% in a Feb. 16-21 poll published Friday. Among U.S. adults, 69% are receptive to a vaccine, including 19% who have already gotten at least one dose. That compares with 60% in November, when no vaccine was authorized yet in the U.S.About three-quarters agree that widespread vaccination would help the economy, though Republicans are less prone to that view than Democrats. Black adults are almost twice as likely than Whites to view the disease as a major threat to their personal health. The share of Black adults saying they plan to get vaccinated or already have rose to 61% from 42% in November.Serbia Shuts Non-Essential Business (10:41 a.m. NY)Serbia is shutting down all non-essential businesses for 42 hours, form Saturday noon until Monday morning, to try to counter rising infections and to ensure unimpeded vaccinations. The only retail allowed to operate during the weekend lockdown will be groceries, pharmacies and gas stations.Colorado Urges Caution (10:34 a.m. NY)Colorado health officials reminded counties to comply with safety guidelines to avert a spring surge of the coronavirus. Nearby Texas this week dropped its restrictions. “We have all the tools available to us to avoid a spring wave — a growing supply of vaccines, public health orders that allow us to operate more safely, and protocols that protect us every day — let’s use them,” said Eric France, Colorado’s chief medical officer.Meantime, the Archdiocese of Denver directed Roman Catholics to avoid the new Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine, the Denver Post reported. Abortion-derived are cells used in the manufacture of the vaccine. The directive is in line with the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.Astra Shot Said to Work on Brazil Strain (9:39 a.m. NY)The vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University will not need to be modified to protect against the Brazil P1 variant, Reuters reports, citing a person familiar with the matter.Results come from a study by Oxford University, that has not yet been made public.Canada Approves J&J Vaccine (9:25 a.m. NY)Canada’s public health agency licensed Johnson & Johnson’s coronavirus vaccine, making it the fourth shot authorized in a country struggling to keep up with its Group of Seven peers on inoculations.The approval, first reported by Canadian Broadcasting Corp., will be announced at a briefing by health officials in Ottawa Friday morning, according to a government official speaking on condition they not be named. Canada has an agreement to purchase 38 million shots from the New Jersey-based company.Russia Deaths Pass 200,000 (9:21 a.m. NY)Russia’s death toll from Covid-19 reached 37,107 in January, the third-highest monthly total, even as the government’s daily figures indicate the country has passed the peak of the epidemic. The data raises overall fatalities linked to the epidemic in Russia to just over 200,000 after the death toll for December was revised up.Despite being one of the first to announce a mass vaccination program in December, Russia is well behind other nations in the number of shots administered, at 5 million first doses and 2.5 million second ones compared to nearly 83 million in the U.S. and close to 22 million in the U.K.Swiss May Offer More Free Testing (8:38 a.m. NY)Switzerland is proposing to ramp up free testing for the public in schools and businesses in a bid to control infections while the economy reopens. The government wants to provide each member of the public with five cost-free tests a month. The initiative is expected to cost more than 1 billion francs ($1.08 billion) in 2021.Germany Vaccines Show Success (7:22 a.m. NY)Even as Germany’s sluggish Covid-19 vaccine campaign has left politicians arguing about who’s to blame, the first signs of success are starting to emerge.With priority given to seniors and nursing-home residents, the infection rate in people over the age of 80 has plummeted by about 80% since the start of the vaccine campaign in late December. Including younger seniors who haven’t been called up yet for a shot, the infection rate in people over the age of 65 has dropped by 64%.Tokyo Emergency Extended (6:45 a.m. NY)Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga extended by two weeks a virus state of emergency for the Tokyo region that had been set to expire Sunday, trying to maintain a declining trend in infections as it looks to host the Olympics in about four months.The move to prolong a nearly two month emergency already in place for the region was needed to prevent a fresh wave of infections from emerging, Suga said in a briefing Friday. The measure applies to Tokyo and the prefectures or Kanagawa, Chiba and Saitama, which have a combined population of about 36 million people.Iran to Import AstraZeneca Shots (5:23 a.m. NY)Iran will import a million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine through the World Health Organization’s Covax scheme between March 18-28, according to the head of the country’s coronavirus task force. The Health Ministry on Friday reported 8,367 new virus cases and 81 deaths overnight.Iran has so far imported Sputnik V and Sinopharm jabs, and clinical trials are underway for its own domestically produced vaccines.S. Africa to Miss Vaccination Target (5:08 a.m. NY)South Africa expects to miss its target of inoculating 1.5 million people by the end of this month because sufficient shots aren’t available.“We expect now only to complete 700,000 vaccines by end of March,” Deputy Health Minister Joe Phaahla said in an online briefing on Friday.U.K. Furloughed 16% of Workers (5:42 p.m. HK)Two in five U.K. businesses were furloughing staff in January, taking the number of workers in the scheme to 4.9 million, or 16.1% of the total, according to the Office for National Statistics. London had the highest share of workforce on furlough.Among those working, more traveled to a job than worked from home last week for the first time since June, adding to indications that fewer people are adhering strictly to lockdown rules to control the coronavirus.Australia Protests Blocked Shots (5:36 p.m. HK)Australia asked the European Union to review a decision by Italy to block a shipment of AstraZeneca Plc’s coronavirus vaccine to the country and broached the topic in a previously planned call with the EU’s top trade official on Friday.Italy informed the European Commission that it would withhold the vaccine shipment, using a new rule that obliges member states to inform the EU executive of its decisions to stop vaccine exports outside of the bloc. The commission didn’t oppose Italy’s decision, an EU official said. The company declined to comment.“Australia has raised the issue with the European Commission through multiple channels,” Greg Hunt, Australia’s health minister, told reporters. “We have asked the European Commission to review this decision.”A French minister backed Italy’s decision and said other EU states could take similar measures.AmEx Sees Business Travel Changing (5:00 p.m. HK)There’ll be fewer transatlantic slogs for routine meetings, but more teambuilding exercises in sunny climes. Plus, just maybe, there’ll be more company-sponsored stints of telecommuting from the beach. That’s the scenario presented by Evan Konwiser, the executive vice president of product and strategy for American Express Global Business Travel.He predicts a re-envisioning of business travel that prioritizes experiential meetings—in-person bonding opportunities for scattered remote workers and trips that feel more like work perks than obligations.Denmark Expands Use of Astra Shot (4:33 p.m. HK)Denmark expanded the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine to everyone above the age of 18, scrapping an earlier ban on people older than 65. The decision follows similar steps from Germany, France and Sweden.Denmark expects to have vaccinated all citizens above the age of 16 by July 18, the BT newspaper reported, citing local health authorities.Cyprus Welcomes Vaccinated British (4:23 p.m. HK)Cyprus will allow vaccinated British tourists to enter the country without any further restrictions from May. Holiday-goers won’t have to show negative Covid-19 tests and won’t face a quarantine after receiving the second dose of a vaccine, Tourism Minister Savvas Perdios told state-run Cyprus News Agency.Health protocols, such as mask wearing and social distancing will continue to apply to all. Cyprus concluded a similar agreement with Israel on Feb. 14.German Cases Rise to Monthly High (2:24 p.m. HK)The number of new cases in Germany rose by 11,393 in the 24 hours through Friday morning, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. That’s the biggest increase since Feb. 5.Germany’s health authority warned in a daily situation report that “due to the occurrence of different virus variants, there is an increased risk of a renewed stronger increase in the number of cases.”China to Beef Up Biosecurity Labs (1:37 p.m. HK)China plans to ramp up the construction and management of biosecurity labs to prepare for future emerging diseases, while it also grapples with allegations from the U.S. that the coronavirus outbreak could have resulted from a lab leak.The country seeks to “comprehensively enhance biosecurity governance capabilities” by improving its monitoring and emergence preparedness, according to a document outlining major policy priorities through 2025U.S. Hospitalizations Threaten Rebound (9:08 a.m. HK)More than a dozen U.S. states reported increases in hospitalizations for the coronavirus, threatening to reverse a national trend that’s pushed in-patient numbers to the lowest level since the fall.U.S. hospitals were treating 49,519 patients as of Thursday, data from the Department of Health and Human Services show. The tally fell 3.8% since March 1 after California reported 544 fewer cases and Texas recorded a decline of 391. Hospitalizations are down 62% from a peak of 131,637 in mid-January, though the pace of the reduction appears to be slowing.Michigan had 945 hospitalizations Thursday, an increase of 13% over the past three days. Cases jumped 4.9% to 2,075 in Pennsylvania. New Jersey, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Virginia, Tennessee, Utah, South Dakota, Montana, New Mexico, Nebraska, Idaho and Wyoming also recorded an increase in in-patients.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2021 Bloomberg L.P.
