Covid-19 Tracker

Johnson & Johnson says second shot boosts protection for moderate-severe COVID-19 to 94%

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Johnson & Johnson said Tuesday a second shot of its COVID-19 vaccine given about two months after the first increased its effectiveness to 94% in the United States against moderate to severe forms of the disease. That compares to 70% protection with a single dose. The data will help J&J make its case to U.S. regulators for a booster shot even as the company stresses the durability of its single-shot vaccine as a...

Are COVID-19 boosters ethical, with half the world waiting for a first shot? A bioethicist weighs in

Nancy S. Jecker Professor of Bioethics and Humanities, School of Medicine, University of Washington Should countries that can afford COVID-19 booster vaccines offer them to residents if scientists recommend them? The director-general of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, has made his position clear, calling for countries to impose a moratorium on boosters until 10% of people in every country are vaccinated. H...

India to restart COVID vaccine exports to COVAX, neighbours

India will resume exports of COVID-19 vaccines in the October quarter, prioritising the global vaccine-sharing platform COVAX and neighbouring countries first as supplies rise, the health minister said on Monday. India, the world's biggest maker of vaccines, stopped exports of COVID shots in April to focus on inoculating its own population as infections exploded. The country's monthly vaccine output has since more than doubled and is set ...

Vatican says to require COVID-19 health pass for residents, visitors

A health certificate showing proof of immunity from COVID-19 immunity will be required to enter the Vatican as of Oct. 1, the city state said on Monday. Residents, workers and visitors will have to carry the co-called "Green Pass" that is already widely used in surrounding Italy, the Holy See said in a statement. An exception will be made for those attending mass "for the time strictly necessary for the rite". The Green Pass - origi...

COVID: France plans legislation allowing extension of health pass requirement beyond Nov. 15

The French government's cabinet will review on October 13 a draft bill allowing it to extend, if necessary, the country's COVID-19 health pass requirement beyond a Nov. 15 deadline, said a source close to Prime Minister Jean Castex. The pass proves the holder has had the COVID-19 vaccine or has recently tested negative for COVID-19 or recovered from the illness in the last six months, thereby allowing the holder to enter places such as ba...

Supply fears lead EU vaccine industry to seek home comforts

European companies playing key supporting roles in COVID-19 vaccine manufacturing are working to move production and supply chains closer to their customers to guard against trade restrictions that have interrupted supplies during the pandemic. Germany's Merck KGaA, whose Life Science unit is one of the world's largest makers of bioreactor gear and supplies, told Reuters it is pushing to spread its production network geographically so tha...

Vietnam capital Hanoi to ease coronavirus curbs this week

Vietnam's capital Hanoi will further ease its coronavirus restrictions from this week, the government said, with new cases on the decline and the majority of its adult population partially vaccinated. Most construction projects can resume from Wednesday, authorities said late on Sunday, adding further easing would follow, with average new daily cases down to just 20. So far 94% of Hanoi's adult population of 5.75 million has received o...

U.S. set to require vaccines for most non-U.S. citizen travellers, sources say

WASHINGTON, Sept 20 (Reuters) - The United States plans to mandate COVID-19 vaccines for nearly all non-U.S. citizen international air passengers traveling to the United States as it relaxes other travel restrictions starting in early November, sources familiar with the matter said on Monday. The White House plans in November to allow travelers from countries who have been barred from the United States since early 2020 as it moves to the new ...

Pfizer/BioNTech say data show COVID-19 vaccine safe and protective in kids

Pfizer Inc and BioNTech SE said on Monday their COVID-19 vaccine induced a robust immune response in 5 to 11 year olds, and they plan to ask for authorization to use the vaccine in children in that age range in the United States, Europe and elsewhere as soon as possible. The companies said the vaccine generated an immune response in the 5-to-11 year olds in their Phase II/III clinical trial that matched what they had previously observed i...

Cambodia bat researchers on mission to track origin of COVID-19

Researchers are collecting samples from bats in northern Cambodia in a bid to understand the coronavirus pandemic, returning to a region where a very similar virus was found in the animals a decade ago. Two samples from horseshoe bats were collected in 2010 in Stung Treng province near Laos and kept in freezers at the Institut Pasteur du Cambodge (IPC) in Phnom Penh. Tests done on them last year revealed a close relative to the coronav...