March 25 coronavirus news

The Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine could be ready for children ages 12 to 15 by the start of the upcoming school year, Dr. William Gruber, Pfizer’s senior vice president of vaccine clinical research and development, said Thursday. 

Pfizer says it has evaluated its vaccine in 2,259 children between 12 and 15 years-old and plans to share safety and efficacy data soon. 

The entire population could benefit from school-age kids getting vaccinated, Gruber noted. 

“I think that adding the school-age population, based on recommendations from the FDA and the CDC, could go a long way in helping us reach herd protection,” he said. 

Gruber explained what these trials aim to find. 

“I think we need to see what the immune response, in short, is, specifically, how much antibody they make that can kill the virus. Is it comparable to what we see in adults?” he said. “If it is, then I think we have reason to have great confidence that the vaccine will likely protect children as well as it does adults.” 

Gruber noted that Pfizer also aims to ensure children don’t have side effects to the vaccine that are more extreme than those seen in adults. 

Some context: This week, the first children received a shot in phase 1 of Pfizer-BioNTech’s trial of children under the age of 12. The company expects results by the end of 2021.  

More than 500 unaccompanied migrant children currently held in US government shelters have tested positive for Covid-19, federal officials said Thursday, underscoring the challenges the Biden administration faces as it sees a surge of children arriving at the US-Mexico border.

A spokesperson for the Office of Refugee Resettlement, the agency charged with caring for migrant children, said a total of 528 children are in isolation after testing positive for the coronavirus, amounting to about 4.4% of children currently in custody. None have required hospitalization.

About 11,900 unaccompanied migrant children are presently in ORR custody. The test data does not include Covid-19 cases identified from emergency intake sites, such as the Dallas convention center.

Some context: Since March 24, 2020, there have been a total of 3,715 lab-confirmed Covid-19 cases among migrant children, ORR said.

Critics of the Biden administration’s immigration policy, including Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, have alleged, without evidence, that migrants coming into his state are exposing residents to coronavirus.

But the data suggests a relatively low rate of infection among migrant children. The seven-day average positivity rate in Texas was 6.1% on Wednesday, according to Johns Hopkins University data.

European Council President Charles Michel speaks with EU leaders, via videoconference link, during a EU summit at the European Council building in Brussels, Thursday, March 25.

The European Union will “step up and speed up” Covid-19 vaccine production and distribution in Europe “over the next few weeks,” President of the European Council Charles Michel said on Thursday.

“We are trying to take an inventory of the work that has been done. Over the next few weeks we hope to step up and speed up the production and distribution of vaccines to member states,” Michel said after chairing a meeting of the 27 member states.

“It’s absolutely vital of course that we keep on working to improve vaccine production in Europe, and improve our ability to distribute those to member states,” he added.

All residents 16 and older in Connecticut can receive a Covid-19 vaccine starting April 1, Gov. Ned Lamont said Thursday.

Lamont announced that the state will administer over 200,000 first-dose vaccinations next week. 

So far, 80% of people 75 and over in the state have been vaccinated, the governor said.

There are 619,154 people who have been fully vaccinated across the state, and a total of 1,680,671 doses have been administered, according to the state’s Covid-19 dashboard. 

The state has created a $58 million budget to increase outreach and access in communities with low vaccination rates, including Black and Latino communities.

This budget will include methods of outreach such as door-to-door canvassing on vaccine awareness, the establishment of mobile clinics in communities, vaccination appointment settling and grants to local health departments and community organizations.  

“We’re doing everything we can to bring the vaccine to you,” and especially those most at risk, Lamont said.

“Trusted people are the best advocates to encourage others to get vaccinate,” the governor explained. 

Susan Morehead of Greensboro receives her COVID-19 vaccination from Air Force medical technician Jade Loftus at the FEMA-supported mass vaccination site outside Four Season Town Centre mall, Wednesday, March 10, in Greensboro, North Carolina.

North Carolina will be expanding vaccine eligibility to all adults starting April 7, Gov. Roy Cooper announced Thursday.

“I’m encouraged that North Carolina will be able to open eligibility to all adults well ahead of the President’s May 1st goal,” Cooper said in a news conference.

The state’s health secretary, Mandy Cohen, laid out details of the accelerated timeline, saying the state would be moving forward and opening vaccination eligibility to groups 4 and 5 with the rest of Group 4 being eligible to sign up to receive vaccines on March 31.

According to a statement from the governor’s office, starting next week, the rest of group 4 individuals are defined as additional essential workers and people living in other congregate settings such as student dormitories will be eligible for vaccination. According to the state’s Department of Health and Human Services, group 5 individuals consist of “everyone who wants a safe and effective COVID-19 vaccination.”

As of Thursday, North Carolina has administered 4.3 million Covid-19 vaccine doses and according to Cooper at least a third of the state’s adult population has received at least one shot.

Mexico’s health ministry has reported 200,211 deaths from coronavirus since the pandemic began.

The ministry reported 584 new deaths Thursday.

Mexico has the third-highest number of coronavirus deaths in the world. The US has the most, followed by Brazil.

A soldier checks a pedestrian's ID at a checkpoint in Santiago, on March 25, as a new quarantine began Chile, due to a sharp increase in new cases of covid-19.

A new lockdown is in effect in Chile due to a rapid surge in coronavirus cases, authorities have announced.

The country has been reporting between 7,000 to 8,000 new cases daily and hospital intensive care unit occupancy rates are at 95% with both Covid and non-Covid patients, according to authorities.

At Thursday’s daily news conference health authorities said “several patients” with the British and Brazilian variants have been detected. 

The lockdown will affect more than 13 million people and will include the Santiago metropolitan area. Most colleges and schools will remain open but all nonessential stores will be closed. Authorities are also urging people to avoid nonessential travel.

The surge in cases comes despite Chile’s elaborate vaccination campaign, which is seen as one of the most successful in the region. At least 6 million people in Chile, about a third of the population, have already received at least one dose.

Despite the domestic challenges, and without affecting Chile’s own vaccination campaign, President Sebastián Piñera said on Tuesday that his country will continue collaborating with other countries in the region to help with vaccines, oxygen and medical supplies.

Chile has already helped Peru with oxygen supplies, Paraguay and Ecuador with vaccines, and has provided logistical support for the transportation of vaccines to Uruguay, Piñera said.

Chile reported 7,023 new coronavirus cases on Thursday, bringing the total to at least 954,762. Health authorities also reported 122 new deaths, bringing the total to at least 22,524 deaths since the start of the pandemic. 

French Health Minister Olivier Veran delivers a press conference on the current French government strategy for the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic in Paris, on March 25.

Three additional regions in France will join 16 already under strict restrictions, French Health Minister Olivier Véran announced Thursday.

“Epidemic pressure has reached alarming levels” in the regions of Nièvre, Rhône and Aube, Véran said.

A total of 19 regions in France will now be subjected to the strictest measures in the country. The strict measures are not quite a full lockdown, as schools remain open. However, nonessential stores are closed and people’s movement will be limited within a roughly six-mile radius unless compelling business or health reasons to travel further. 

The entire country is following a curfew from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. local time. Working from home is encouraged as much as possible.

The health minister explained a stricter lockdown that would include the closure of schools was not considered at this stage saying, “First, the virus does not circulate everywhere in the same way and with the same intensity. For example, the Finistère region (Brittany) is ten times less affected than Seine Saint-Denis (Paris suburb),” he said.

Véran also said that “after a year of collective struggle,” they consulted local officials and considered “the acceptability of the measures by the population.”

“It is too early to judge whether the measures are effective and sufficiently effective. The measures decided last week could show their effects by this weekend at the earliest,” he added, indicating that currently there are 1,410 patients in intensive care in the Paris region.

“More than 45,000 French people have been diagnosed with the coronavirus in these 24 hours,” Veran said, before adding, “There is an acceleration of the epidemic almost everywhere – the situation is the most worrying in the Paris region, in northern France and in the riviera region.”

He said people in intensive care are younger when compared to November and December, something he attributes to the new coronavirus variants. 

Véran said that as of Thursday evening, more than 7 million people have received at least one dose of the vaccine and 2.5 million have received both doses. “By mid-April, so within three weeks, we will have vaccinated more than 10 million people, a majority of the people most vulnerable to the virus,” he added.

Citing increased distribution of the Covid-19 vaccine and 10 weeks of declining cases, Gov. Doug Ducey Thursday announced updates to Arizona’s Covid-19 measures, including lifting requirements on the state’s businesses and events.

According to the governor’s new executive order, events of more than 50 people will no longer need the approval of local governments, previous requirements for businesses will transition to recommendations, but businesses will still be able to continue requiring masks and social distancing and bars are allowed to resume regular operations, but can require social distancing and masks if they want to.

Arizona never issued a statewide mask mandate, but local government mandates will be phased out, though mask usage is still encouraged, according to the order.

“Today, we are in a different spot, and we are also a lot smarter. I’m confident Arizona’s businesses and citizens will continue to practice the fundamentals and act responsibly as we gradually get back to normal,” he added. 

Covid-19 vaccinations were opened to anyone 16 years old and older at certain state-run sites in Arizona starting Wednesday.

This post has been updated with new details on when vaccinations opened to people 16 and older.

Empty COVISHIELD vials, manufactured by Serum Institute of India, are seen at a vaccination center in Guwahati, India, on March 22.

Deliveries of Covid-19 vaccines produced by the Serum Institute of India (SII) to countries participating in the COVAX program will be delayed during March and April, Gavi, The Vaccine Alliance, announced in a news release on Thursday.

COVAX is a global vaccine-sharing initiative aimed at reducing vaccine inequality with discounted or free doses for lower-income countries.

The news release cited the government of India’s battle with a new wave of Covid-19 infections as the reason for the delay. On Wednesday, India’s Ministry of Health announced it had discovered a new “double mutant” variant of Covid-19, as the country struggles to contain a spike in cases that’s raising fears of a second wave.

“COVAX and the Government of India remain in discussions to ensure some supplies are completed during March and April,” the release said.

Gavi said according to its agreement with SII it is “contracted to provide COVAX with the SII-licensed and manufactured AstraZeneca (AZ)-Oxford vaccine (known as COVISHIELD) to over 60 lower-income economies participating in the Gavi COVAX AMC (including India), alongside its commitments to the Government of India.”

Economies participating in the COVAX facility that have been allocated AstraZeneca-manufactured doses of the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine have also been informed that some of the first deliveries due in March are now set to take place in April, Gavi said. 

Remember: COVAX, which is run by a coalition including Gavi and the World Health Organization, uses donations from governments and multilateral institutions to buy vaccines for poorer nations that can’t afford contracts with major drug companies.

The program has secured vaccines from AstraZeneca, Pfizer-BioNTech and the Serum Institute of India, with hopes of additional doses from companies currently working to get regulatory approvals. But getting enough supplies has been difficult, in part because wealthier countries ordered more than they need.

The SII not only produces most of the vaccines for India – it is also responsible for many of the vaccines distributed to the rest of the world. In September last year, SII pledged to manufacture and deliver 200 million doses for COVAX. But SII has had to halt or delay its exports several times in recent months as global and domestic demand surged.

Pfizer's Covid-19 vaccine is seen at a hospital in San Diego on December 15.

All Californians over the age of 16 will be eligible for a Covid-19 vaccine on April 15, as supply allows, Gov. Gavin Newsom just announced.

Those aged 50 and older will be allowed to be vaccinated starting April 1.

More Covid-19 vaccine doses are expected in April, well above the 1.8 million vaccines the state has been receiving each week. California expects to begin receiving several million doses each week, beginning sometime next month.  

California will continue to push vaccines toward those hardest hit by the pandemic. The state is partnering with organized labor and community-based organizations to vaccinate essential workers and agricultural workers.

Peru reported 11,260 daily coronavirus cases, the highest daily number since the pandemic began, according to data released by the Health Ministry.

The country has seen its average daily cases increase by 31% since the beginning of March.

Lima is reporting almost 40% of new cases are the Brazilian P.1 variant, Health Minister Oscar Ugarte announced during a news conference on Wednesday evening.

The overall number of coronavirus cases is 1,492,519, while the country’s death toll reached 50,656 after 182 new deaths were recorded.

Peru has the fifth highest number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Latin America, behind Brazil, Colombia, Argentina and Mexico, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

British lawmakers just approved a six month extension for coronavirus legislation that gives authorities emergency powers to address the pandemic.

The UK parliament approved the extension by a vote of 484 to 76 on Thursday.

Tuesday marked the one-year anniversary of UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s televised address where he told the British public they “must stay at home”.

The United Kingdom is coming out of a second wave of coronavirus. The extension will provide measures to fight against a third wave emerging in Europe.

Europe’s medicines regulator has announced it has asked a group of experts to provide their views on links to blood clots purportedly associated with some Covid-19 vaccines.

In a statement published on its website on Thursday, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) announced the new group will meet with the Pharmacovigilance Risk Assessment Committee (PRAC) on March 29 to discuss the possible reasons why some people developed blood clots after receiving a Covid-19 vaccine “to gain a deeper understanding of the observed events and the potential risk.”

The new group includes experts in hematology, cardiovascular medicine, infectious diseases, virology, neurology, immunology and epidemiology.

The outcome of the meeting will feed into PRAC’s ongoing evaluation around blood clots links to the Covid-19 vaccine, with any updated recommendations expected to be announced during its April plenary meeting, which takes place between April 6 and April 9.

The EMA’s announcement comes after its safety committee said on March 18 that investigations into the link between the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine and blood clots had come to a clear scientific conclusion:

However, the committee said it was unable to “rule out definitively” a possible link to blood clots.  

This led to the committee recommending vaccine patient information leaflets and information be provided to health care professionals and updated to include warnings about potential side effects, including low platelet levels and blood clotting disorders. The new updated advice is now available of their website

Meanwhile, the World Health Organization’s Global Advisory Committee on Vaccine Safety said Friday that current available data does not indicate that recent reported blood clots following administration of AstraZeneca are connected to the vaccine. 

The committee noted that people naturally develop blood clots, and Covid-19 infection can also cause them. It said observed rates of these events have actually been lower than expected. Just because someone suffers a blood clot and was also recently vaccinated does not mean the vaccine caused the clot, the committee said.

Duke University researchers started testing Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine for children under the age of 12. The company told CNN at least two children have already gotten their first shot.

Pfizer vaccine currently has an emergency authorization from the US Food and Drug Administration for those 16 years old and older.

Pfizer is starting the trials first in children between 5 and 11 to determine the appropriate dose. Vaccines will start with 10 micrograms. If that dose is tolerated, the trial will escalate to 20 micrograms and then 30 micrograms. An adult dosage of Pfizer vaccine has 30 micrograms. There is also a 3 microgram option. As with adults, children will be on a two-dose schedule, 21 days apart.

If the 10 microgram dose is tolerated in the 5-11 year old group, the trial will follow the same process for children between the ages of 2 and 5. If tolerated in that age group, next would be vaccine trials for the youngest children, between 6 months and 2 years.

If 10 micrograms is tolerated in the 5-11 age group, the trial will also follow the same process for the 2-5 age group and then for the group of children 6 months to 2 years.

Pfizer has already evaluated the vaccine in 2,259 children between the ages of 12 and 15. The company told CNN the tolerability findings were strong enough among this age group to encourage trials in younger children. They anticipate being able to share the data about the safety and efficacy of the vaccine in the older children age group soon.

 Results from the under-12 trial are expected by the end of 2021. 

Syringes are loaded with the AstraZeneca Covid-19 Vaccine at the Skane University Hospital in Malmo, Sweden, on February 17.

Iceland and Sweden are partly resuming their use of the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine, the Swedish Public Health Agency and the Icelandic Directorate of Health announced on Thursday.

The statement also said the vaccine could be safely used for people over the age of 70, and that “younger individuals who have not experienced serious side effects after the first dose will probably be able to complete the vaccination with the same vaccine.”

The statement adds the vaccine will likely be made available to people between the age of 60 and 69.

Meanwhile, the Swedish Public Health Agency says in its statement that vaccinations with the AstraZeneca vaccine could continue for people aged 65 and over, saying the the European Medicines Agency (EMA) “had determined that the benefits of the AstraZeneca vaccine outweigh the risks.”

The statement further states that “it cannot be ruled out that some rare cases of serious side effects may be associated with the vaccine. However, these suspected cases have so far only been reported among younger people, not in people over 65.”

As a result, the vaccine will not be used in Sweden for people under the age of 65 “pending further safety data for those ages.”

Remember: On March 11, Iceland suspended its use of the vaccine while waiting for advice from the European Medicines Agency. The Swedish Health Ministry also paused its rollout of the vaccine on March 16 while awaiting investigation by the European Medicines Agency and its Swedish equivalent.

On March 18, the EMA’s safety committee concluded its preliminary review of a signal of blood clots in people vaccinated with AstraZeneca, stating “the benefits of the vaccine in combating the still widespread threat of COVID-19 (which itself results in clotting problems and may be fatal) continue to outweigh the risk of side effects.”

On Wednesday, Iceland announced a three-week tightening of restrictions following a new group of infections that have broken out in the country involving the B.1.1.7 variant first identified in England.

President Biden will announce a new coronavirus vaccine goal of 200 million shots in arms in his first 100 days in office at his 1:15 p.m. ET news conference today, a White House official tells CNN. 

CNN reported yesterday that Biden was expected to announce his new goal at the news conference and that he had strongly hinted he would double his original goal 100 million shots in his first 100 days, which he cleared in 58 days.

The announcement comes after Biden in recent days has consulted with his advisers and health experts on what a new, realistic goal would be. 

The current US seven-day average is about 2.5 million doses per day. That pace would get the country to more than 205 million Covid-19 vaccine doses by day 100 of Biden’s presidency.

A health worker prepares a dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine at a Covid-19 vaccination site in Las Vegas on March 15.

The Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna Covid-19 vaccines are effective in pregnant and lactating women, who can pass protective antibodies to newborns, according to research published Thursday in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology. 

Researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and the Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT and Harvard looked at 131 women who received either the Pfizer/BioNTech or Moderna Covid-19 vaccine. Among the participants, 84 were pregnant, 31 were lactating and 16 were not pregnant or lactating. Samples were collected between Dec. 17, 2020 and March 2, 2021. 

The vaccine-induced antibody levels were equivalent in pregnant and lactating women, compared to non-pregnant women. The antibody levels were “strikingly higher” than those resulting from coronavirus infection during pregnancy, the team noted. 

In addition, the team found that women passed protective antibodies to their newborns, measured in breast milk and the placenta. Alter said additional research is needed to understand how long those protective antibodies last in newborns. 

The findings are in line with recent research, though this is the largest study on vaccines in pregnant women, to date. Pregnant and lactating women were not included in the initial clinical trials of the vaccines.  

Participants used the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s V-safe tool, which allows people who have received a Covid-19 vaccine to track their reaction. Alter said they found no evidence of more side effects or more intense side effects in pregnant and lactating women than in the general population. 

A view of the "Hamilton" marquee at the Richard Rodgers Theatre in New York on May 3, 2020, as Broadway productions closed their doors during the coronavirus pandemic.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said the vision is to bring theatre back in September, but he added “that all depends on getting these pieces right.”

“The lead time to bring back a show is really extensive,” de Blasio said which is why he is prepping six months out. 

“I feel very good about September, we just need to do the work now, and we need more of that guidance and clarity from the state so we can lock it in,” he added.

Søren Brostrøm, Director General of the Danish Health Authority, left, and Tanja Erichsen, from the Danish Medicins Agency, attend a press briefing about the status of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine in Copenhagen, Denmark, on March 25.

Denmark will extend its suspension of the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine for an additional three weeks to give time for further assessment, the country’s health authority announced on Thursday. 

Denmark was one of the first European countries to put the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine on hold earlier this month, after concerns of increased risks of blood clots in patients post-inoculation were registered in the country. 

The European Medicines Agency last week found that the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine “is safe and effective in preventing Covid-19 and its benefits continued to be far greater than its risks” but that it could not “rule out definitively” a possible link with blood clots. Most European countries including Germany, Italy, France, Spain have since restarted use of the shot. 

Approximately 150,000 people in Denmark had already received the AstraZeneca shot before it was suspended.