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February
South Korea cuts first-quarter COVID-19 vaccination plan, restricts use of AstraZeneca shot
Written by Nur Yasmin
Feb. 15 - South Korea said on Monday it will not use AstraZeneca’s coronavirus vaccine on people aged 65 and older, reversing an earlier decision, and scaled back initial vaccination targets due to delayed shipments from global vaccine-sharing scheme COVAX.
South Korea had said it would complete vaccinations on 1.3 million people by the first quarter of this year with AstraZeneca shots, but it slashed the target sharply to 750,000.
The decision is largely due to adjustments in the supply timetable of the 2.6 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine from COVAX, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said on Monday.
It did not mention any production issues in Europe for the delayed schedule, which it put down to administrative processes at COVAX, and reiterated that its plan to reach herd immunity by November remained in tact.
“We do not believe the adjustments in inoculations in February and March will impact our goal of herd immunity by November,” KDCA director Jeong Eun-kyeong told a briefing.
South Korea also reversed its earlier plan on the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine and said it would delay inoculation of the elderly using the shot until more efficacy data becomes available.
South Korean authorities said last week they would grant their first approval for a coronavirus vaccine to AstraZeneca, and would allow its use on the elderly, despite warnings from advisory panels about a lack of data on its efficacy in older patients.
Several European countries have warned that AstraZeneca/Oxford University’s shot should only be given to those ages 18 to 64, but the company has said it triggers a good immune response in older people.
South Korea’s first vaccinations will begin on Feb. 26, with healthcare workers and vulnerable residents, including the elderly, the first in line. (Reuters)
February
New Zealand in coronavirus lockdown as U.K. variant cases reported
Written by Nur Yasmin
Feb. 15 - A coronavirus outbreak that sent New Zealand’s biggest city into a snap lockdown over the weekend involved the more transmissable UK variant, health officials confirmed on Monday, the first time the strain has been detected locally.
Auckland’s nearly 2 million residents were plunged into a new three-day lockdown on Sunday after three new COVID-19 cases were detected in the city.
Genome sequencing of two the cases - all three are immediate family - revealed they were the B1.1.7 variant. The source of the cases remains unknown, authorities said, adding they were scanning international genome databases for a match.
“We were absolutely right to make the decision to be extra cautious because we assumed it was going to be one of the more transmissible variants,” Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Facebook Live post on Monday.
The Auckland lockdown is the first in New Zealand in six months, after a hard shutdown early in the pandemic appeared to have largely eliminated local transmission. The country was ranked the best performing nation in an index by Australia’s Lowy Institute of almost 100 countries based on containment of the coronavirus.
The fresh outbreak prompted neighbouring Australia to suspend an arrangement that allowed New Zealanders to enter Australia without serving a 14-day hotel quarantine period.
New Zealand’s health department said on Monday there were no new cases of community transmission, but five in managed isolation facilities.
The country has reported a total of 2,330 confirmed and probable cases since the start of the pandemic, a fraction of those reported by other developed nations, including 25 deaths. Forty-seven cases remained active, health officials said on Monday.
In Auckland, long queues formed outside supermarkets after Sunday’s announcement as people tried to stock up on goods ahead of the implementation of the order that requires them to stay at home except for essential shopping and work.
The COVID-19 alert for the rest of the country was raised up a notch to Level 2, with all gatherings limited to 100 people. (Reuters)
February
Israeli study finds 94% drop in symptomatic COVID-19 cases with Pfizer vaccine
Written by Nur Yasmin
Feb. 15 - Israel’s largest healthcare provider on Sunday reported a 94% drop in symptomatic COVID-19 infections among 600,000 people who received two doses of the Pfizer’s vaccine in the country’s biggest study to date.
Health maintenance organization (HMO) Clalit, which covers more than half of all Israelis, said the same group was also 92% less likely to develop severe illness from the virus.
The comparison was against a group of the same size, with matching medical histories, who had not received the vaccine.
“It shows unequivocally that Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine is extremely effective in the real world a week after the second dose, just as it was found to be in the clinical study,” said Ran Balicer, Clalit’s chief innovation officer.
He added that the data indicates the Pfizer vaccine, which was developed in partnership with Germany’s BioNTech, is even more effective two weeks or more after the second shot.
Researchers at the Weizmann Institute of Science, who have been tabulating national data, said on Sunday that a sharp decline in hospitalisation and serious illness identified earlier among the first age group to be vaccinated - aged 60 or older - was seen for the first time in those aged 55 and older.
Hospitalisations and serious illness were still rising in younger groups who began vaccinations weeks later.
Israel has been conducting a rapid vaccine rollout and its database offers insights into vaccine effectiveness and at what point countries might attain herd immunity. (Reuters)
February
Thousands protest Myanmar coup after night of fear, security patrols
Written by nuke
Thousands protest in Myanmar on Feb 14, 2021, 14 days after the coup. (Photos: Naung Kham) - CNA
Thousands of protesters took to the streets in Myanmar’s major cities for a ninth straight day of anti-coup demonstrations on Sunday (Feb 14), after a fearful night as residents formed patrols and the army rolled back laws protecting freedoms.
Engineering students marched through downtown Yangon, the biggest city, wearing white and carrying placards demanding the release of former leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been in detention since Myanmar’s military overthrew her elected government on Feb 1.Her detention, on charges of importing walkie-talkies, is due to expire on Monday. Her lawyer, Khin Maung Zaw, could not be reached for comment on what was set to happen.
More than 384 people have been detained since the coup, the monitoring group Assistance Association for Political Prisoners said, in a wave of mostly nightly arrests.
Residents banded together late on Saturday to patrol streets in Yangon and second city Mandalay, fearing arrest raids as well as common crime after the junta ordered the release of thousands of prisoners.
In different neighbourhoods, groups of mostly young men banged on pots and pans to sound the alarm as they chased down what they believed to be suspicious characters.
Also late on Saturday, the army reinstated a law requiring people to report overnight visitors to their homes, suspended laws constraining security forces from detaining suspects or searching private property without court approval, and ordered the arrest of well-known backers of mass protests.
The coup has prompted the biggest street protests in more than a decade and has been denounced by Western countries, with the United States announcing some sanctions on the ruling generals and other countries also considering measures//CNA
February
Japan quake brings back memories of deadly 2011 tsunami
Written by nuke
A collapsed wall by a strong earthquake is pictured in Kunimi, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan on Feb 14, 2021. (Photo: Kyodo/via REUTERS)
The 7.3 magnitude quake struck shortly before midnight on Saturday and cracked walls, shattered windows and set off a landslide in Fukushima, the area closest to the epicentre. More than 100 people were injured.Hoshino, 46, swept broken glass from about 20 shattered whiskey bottles into a bin bag in her bar on a back street in the city of Iwaki, roughly 200km north of Tokyo and not far from the quake's epicentre."We were hit by this coronavirus pandemic, and so we were looking forward to reopening our shops, and now this happens," she said, referring to a locally-declared state of emergency that had closed her bar from January and was set to lift on Monday.
The Japan Meteorological Agency said the quake was believed to be an aftershock from the magnitude 9.0 quake on Mar 11, 2011 that set off a tsunami, killing nearly 20,000 people along a wide swathe of northeastern Japan, and the Fukushima nuclear accident, the world's worst in 25 years. The agency warned of aftershocks for several days.
Hoshino said Saturday's quake brought back frightening memories.
"My body immediately reacted, and I couldn’t stop trembling. My legs were shaking too, but I couldn’t gauge whether it was safer to run out or stay in, so I ended up doing a weird little dance," she said with a chuckle.
At least 121 people were injured, NHK national television said, including several who suffered fractures, but there were no reported deaths.
There was no tsunami, and no reports of irregularities at any nuclear plants. NHK reported that about 160mls (5 ounces) of water had leaked from a spent fuel pool at the Fukushima Dai-Ni reactor but that this presented no danger.
Shinkansen bullet train service to much of northern Japan was suspended due to damage along the tracks. Service along one line was not expected to be restored until at least Tuesday.Earthquakes are common in Japan, one of the world's most seismically active areas, and Japan accounts for about 20 per cent of the world's earthquakes of magnitude 6 or greater//CNA
February
UN Security Council to debate challenge of COVID-19 vaccine access
Written by nuke
UN Security Council to debate challenge of COVID-19 vaccine access - UN News
At the initiative of Britain, which boasts of having an effective vaccination programme, the UN Security Council on Wednesday (Feb 17) will debate the problem of global access to COVID-19 vaccines, raising issues likely to underscore sharp differences between council members.
The Security Council, with a mission of maintaining peace and security around the world, has no special health expertise, the ambassador noted, adding, "the Security Council can just have a contribution".
He added that no resolution on the matter is likely to come this week.
The Security Council's only direct involvement in the pandemic came in July 2020 when, after long and difficult negotiations to resolve sharp US-Chinese tensions, it passed a resolution encouraging cease-fires in countries in conflict in order to limit the spread of Covid-19.
Britain recently shared with a few other countries a draft resolution on vaccine management, diplomats said.
"There is a draft resolution," one said. "The negotiations have just started. It will take some time."
Vaccination "is the big challenge now", said Olof Skoog, the European Union ambassador to the council. "A long way to go before people are fully vaccinated."
Skoog, who is Swedish, noted that the EU has contributed to creating the global Covax initiative which, under UN auspices, aims to provide at least two billion doses by the end of the year, including at least 1.3 billion doses to 92 lower-income countries//CNA
February
With Republican firewall, US Senate acquits Trump of inciting deadly Capitol riot
Written by nuke
With Republican firewall, US Senate acquits Trump of inciting deadly Capitol riot - NDTV.com
The US Senate acquitted Donald Trump on Saturday (Feb 13) of inciting the mob that stormed the Capitol last month, sparing him from conviction in his second impeachment trial in a year despite broad condemnation of his role in sparking the deadly siege.
The Senate voted 57-43 in favour of convicting the former president, falling short of the two-thirds majority needed to do so, on a charge that he incited the insurrection that left five people dead, forced lawmakers to flee, and put his own vice president in danger while overseeing the certification of Democrat Joe Biden's election win.
Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, who voted "not guilty" in the trial, offered scathing remarks about Trump after the verdict.
"There is no question that President Trump is practically and morally responsible for provoking the events of the day," he said. "The people who stormed this building believed they were acting on the wishes and instructions of their president."President Joe Biden said that while the vote did not lead to a conviction, the substance of the charge was not in dispute, and a record number of Republicans had voted to convict Trump."This sad chapter in our history has reminded us that democracy is fragile," Biden said in a statement. "That it must always be defended. That we must be ever vigilant. That violence and extremism has no place in America. And that each of us has a duty and responsibility as Americans, and especially as leaders, to defend the truth and to defeat the lies."In the vote, seven of the 50 Senate Republicans joined the chamber's unified Democrats in favouring conviction after a week-long trial in the same building ransacked by Trump's followers after they heard him deliver an incendiary speech on Jan 6.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Republicans' refusal to hold Trump accountable would be remembered "as one of the darkest days and most dishonourable acts in our nation's history".
The swift end to the trial allows Biden to move forward with his agenda to bolster the economy with a US$1.9 trillion pandemic relief Bill and further confirmation of his Cabinet members.
But divisions on Capitol Hill and around the country over his controversial predecessor will remain//CNA
February
Myanmar protesters block arrests as UN demands Aung San Suu Kyi's release
Written by nuke
Aung San Suu Kyi has not been seen since her detention nearly two weeks ago. (Photo: AFP/Sai Aung Main)
Opposition to Myanmar's new military regime intensified on Saturday (Feb 13) as spontaneous neighbourhood watch groups mobilised to thwart arrests of anti-coup activists and the UN demanded the release of ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi.Since taking Aung San Suu Kyi and her top allies into custody, troops have stepped up arrests of civil servants, doctors and others joining strikes demanding the generals relinquish power.
Crowds defied overnight curfews to mass on the streets as night fell, hours after finishing a seventh straight day of rallies, following rumours that police were preparing to launch a fresh wave of arrests.
One group swarmed a hospital in the city of Pathein on rumours that a popular local doctor would be taken, chanting a Buddhist prayer urging protection from harm.
"If I have problems, I will ask for your help," doctor Than Min Htut told the group who had come to aid him, flashing the three-finger salute that has come to symbolise resistance to the coup.
Than Min Htut spoke to AFP on Saturday to confirm he was still free and would continue to participate in a civil disobedience campaign opposing military rule.
More than 320 people have been arrested since last week's coup, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners monitoring group.
An emergency session of UN Human Rights Council in Geneva called for the new regime to release all "arbitrarily detained" persons and hand power back to Aung San Suu Kyi's administration.
The UN deputy rights chief Nada al-Nashif warned Myanmar during the Friday meeting that "the world is watching" events unfold in the country//CNA
February
RSAF fighter aircraft scramble in response to 'potential air threat'
Written by nuke
RSAF fighter aircraft were scrambled in response to a potential air threat. (Photo: Facebook/The Republic of Singapore Air Force)
Fighter aircraft were scrambled in response to a "potential air threat" on Saturday (Feb 13) morning, said the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF).
"Some of you might have heard us flying this morning. Our Fighter aircraft were scrambled in response to a potential air threat," said RSAF in a Facebook post.
It also thanked its crew for being "ever ready" to defend Singapore's skies.
CNA has reached out to the Ministry of Defence for more information//CNA
February
Melbourne starts five-day COVID-19 lockdown, no spectators at Australian Open
Written by nuke
A person crosses an empty street on the first day of a five-day lockdown implemented in the state of Victoria in response to a coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Melbourne, Australia, February 13, 2021. REUTERS/Sandra Sanders
Australia's second most populous state Victoria entered a five-day lockdown on Saturday (Feb 13) as authorities raced to prevent a third wave of COVID-19 cases sparked by the highly infections UK variant.
One new locally acquired case was confirmed in the past 24 hours, Victoria health authorities said on Saturday, taking the number of active cases in the state to 20.
"A lot of people will be hurting today. This is not the position Victorians wanted to be in but I can't have a situation where in two weeks' time, we look back and wish we had taken these decisions now," Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews told reporters on Saturday.
Andrews said Prime Minister Scott Morrison had agreed to stop all international flights to Melbourne through Wednesday, after five en-route, with about 100 passengers, land on Saturday.
The cluster that triggered the renewed restrictions stemmed from a quarantine hotel at Melbourne airport.
Among the "essential" work, play at the Australian Open, the year's first Grand Slam tennis event which runs to Feb 21, continued, but fans were banned through Wednesday. Thousands were forced to leave mid-matches before midnight on Friday.
The lockdown, which has shut restaurants and cafes for all but takeaway, hit just as Melbourne had geared up for the biggest weekend in nearly a year, with Lunar New Year celebrations, Valentine's Day and Australian Open crowds.More broadly, Australia is rated among the world's most successful countries in tackling the pandemic, largely because of decisive lockdowns and borders sealed to all but a trickle of travellers. With a population of 25 million, there have been around 22,200 community cases and 909 deaths//CNA