These are the global coronavirus stories you need to know about this week.
in the US, the FDA has issued an emergency use permit for the use of a monoclonal antibody combination, bamlanivimab and etesevimab, for the treatment of moderate to severe COVID-19 in people 12 years of age or older and positive for SARS-CoV-2, including adults over 65 and those with appropriate abilities.
Meanwhile, millions of N95 fake masks have been sold across at least five states and federal investigations are currently underway.
On February 9, the first phase of the vaccination began Peru with the Sinopharm vaccine, including health vaccines, administration, security, and cleaning staff from health centers.
At the same time in Mexico , by Tuesday 724,347 doses had been given (health workers: 622,672 first doses, 84,218 two doses; education personnel: 17,457).
In Brazil, a total of 4,052,986 people received the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine on Tuesday. This equates to 1.91% of the population. A second dose was administered to 0.02% of the population, according to a daily study conducted by a consortium of media. Also Tuesday, regulatory body Anvisa decided that vaccines purchased by the Ministry of Health through the COVAX Facility do not require registration and approval for emergency use. So they can be administered as soon as they reach the country.
On the 10th, Brazil received a second batch of raw material to produce doses of the CoronaVac (Sinovac / Butantan) vaccine. The first batch arrived on the 3rd, after intense negotiations. These products will be enough to produce 17.3 million doses of CoronaVac. On the 6th, the first batch of supplies arrived to make the Oxford / AstraZeneca vaccine.
The National Health System in Spain update the coronavirus vaccination strategy for the Oxford / AstraZeneca vaccine so that it now includes children under the age of 55. Children under the age of 55 who are already infected and at antibodies have to wait 6 months to get the vaccine, as it says the chances of relapse are very low. New cases of COVID-19 are declining in Spain, even though the death toll remains high.
Government of Portugal authorize the employment of overseas-trained doctors and nurses. The country has been locked up since January 15 but is now believed to have surpassed the peak in this wave. However, as numbers remain high, barriers may remain in place until Easter. On Wednesday 415,283 doses of vaccine were given with approximately 22,000 people vaccinated each day.
International Travelers to the RA from ‘red list’ countries a hotel quarantine will be mandatory at their own expense from next week. People lying on passenger locator forms are at risk of ten-year prison terms. More than 13 million people, that’s 1 in 4 adults, have now received their first dose of COVID-19 vaccine. New cases, hospitals, and deaths are falling but the numbers are still high. A ‘surge test’ is underway in areas where virus “anxiety variants” have been detected, including a new version of Bristol. Unpublished preliminary confirmatory data suggested that the Oxford / AstraZeneca vaccine provided “minimal protection” against moderate to severe infection with the South African virus, but was used in all ages, and the against change, ratified by the World Health Organization.
In France, where the Government is still trying to avoid a new lock, more testing and screening is underway to identify pollution with a variety of concerns. More than 3% of the total population have now received their first dose of vaccine. This week the AstraZeneca vaccine began to be administered to health care professionals. A new report put the number of private practice doctors who died from COVID-19 in 2020 at 74. A major study of French population health reviewed samples taken in late 2019 and found evidence of SARS-CoV antibodies -2 going back to 4 November. , indicating that the virus was circulated early in Europe.
In Italy, the Institute of National Statistics (ISTAT) released data on excess mortality at the final stage of the pandemic in November. The data show a 30% mortality that was not reflected in daily government figures.
There are now 1,236,884 people in Italy with two doses of vaccine (2.05% of the population) and 1,518,772 with a single dose (2.52%). The Ministry of Health provided a national app and platform to register and record vaccines in a national database but many departments decided to build their own.
Iran, the worst country in the Middle East began their COVID-19 vaccination campaign on February 9 using Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine. Intensive care workers in hospitals are the first vaccine.
Israel sees a decline in COVID-19 mortality in the first group in the country to receive the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine. Cases, hospitals, and emergency illness have also decreased among people age 60 and older. Eran Segal, PhD, a computer biologist at the Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, will provide more information in an upcoming edition of Medscape’s Medicine and the Machine podcast.
The WHO-led team of scientists investigating the origins of SARS-CoV-2 has completed its month-long study in Wuhan, China. The team said that bats could be a similar source and that the leak leak theory was not similar. They also suggested that it was possible to check for the virus through frozen food.
In Australia, the state of Victoria is starting a ‘circuit breaker’ lockout after an outbreak of a variety of UK viruses linked to a Melbourne quarantine hotel employee. Premier Daniel Andrews said: “In short: this hyper-infectious variable is moving at a rapid pace.”
Local authorities in Seoul, South Korea offers free COVID-19 tests for dogs and pet cats if they show symptoms after contact with infected people. This comes after a kitten was found in Jinju city last month. If tested positive, pets must be quarantined at home.
See more global coronavirus updates in the Medscape Coronavirus Resource Center.