New US vaccine and a missing mutant

UK

Cases, + 61,045

Down 21.2%

Hospital admissions, + 8,460

Down 22.1%

Deaths, + 2,270

Down 33.5%

Vaccine, first dose, 20,089,551

Second dose, 796,132

Pfizer in over 80s

N = 11,860 cases in the UK

Infections continue to decrease for four weeks after vaccination and then plateau

Lower rate of admission amongst vaccinated, at least 14 days after a single dose

Vaccinated individuals who do become symptomatic, protection against death.

Pfizer in over 70s

In context

SIREN (Sarscov2 Immunity and REinfection EvaluatioN), protection against infection, after a single dose of

Pfizer, 72%

Israel that suggested 75% protection against all infections

85% against symptomatic infection after a single dose of Pfizer

P1 variant

Six found in the UK in February

Unidentified person, infected with P1 variant, took a test 12th or 13th February

Should be self-isolating for 10 days

May or may not have flown into UK

Hotel quarantine rule started 15th February

United States

Trends

Hospitalizations

Vaccinations

One or more doses, 49,772,180 (15%)

Two doses, 24,779,920 (7.5%)

Ad26.COV2.S

Only single dose vaccine in use

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, approves 3rd vaccine for over 18s

Food and Drug Administration, Saturday, emergency use

Start shipping doses, today

3.9 million doses this week

20 million doses by the end of March

Storage / transport

Up to two years frozen at –4° F (–20° C)

Up to three months refrigerated at 36–46° F (2–8° C).

Phase 3, n = 45,000

US agreed to pay Johnson & Johnson $1 billion for 100 million doses if approved

EU has ordered 200 million doses

COVAX, 500 million doses

Hoped for production, 1 billion doses in 2021

November 16, announced 2 dose Phase 3 trial

February, started trial for pregnant women

Janssen

US efficacy data

85% effective at protecting against severe cases

72% effective in preventing moderate illness

100% effective in preventing hospitalization and death after one month

Three vaccines, tested at different times, different variants, different levels of transmission

Seven deaths in the trial, all in placebo group

Saad Omer, Yale Institute of Global Health

the more severe the outcome, the more similar the efficacy

Chile

Outbreak in elderly care facility

40 tested positive

No serious illness

Three weeks after Sinovac

HTTPS://WWW.NYTIMES.COM/INTERACTIVE/2020/SCIENCE/CORONAVIRUS-VACCINE-TRACKER.HTML#SINOVAC

CoronaVac

Efficacy, 50 - 90%

2 doses, 2 weeks apart, IM, Refrigerated, Inactivated

Yet to publish

Indonesia, 11th January

Turkey, 13th January

Brazil, 17th January

Billion doses per year

India

People above 60

Over 45 with certain medical conditions

Modi accepts vaccine

Czech Republic

World’s worst surge in Covid-19 infections

Stricter enforced measures

Belgium

Government to reset vaccination programme

People over 55 could be given Oxford/AstraZeneca

Scotland, overall 81% reduction in hospital admissions

(Belgium, Germany, France, Poland, Italy)

Hospital admissions, up 44% on last week

Vaccinated, 7% (UK 31%)

EU’s 27 member states, 7.26%.

European Commission

Propose EU-wide digital Covid-19 vaccination passport

Allow Europeans to travel more freely over summer

digital green pass