The latest on the coronavirus pandemic and vaccines

By Joshua Berlinger, Adam Renton, Melissa Macaya and Meg Wagner, CNN

Updated 10:08 a.m. ET, January 9, 2021
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5:46 a.m. ET, January 8, 2021

Iran's Ayatollah Ali Khamenei calls for ban on Western Covid-19 vaccines

From Ramin Mostaghim in Tehran

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei addresses the nation in a televised speech in Tehran, Iran, on Friday, January 8.
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei addresses the nation in a televised speech in Tehran, Iran, on Friday, January 8. Handout/Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader/AP

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Friday that he does not trust coronavirus vaccines produced by the Western countries and called on officials to prohibit those vaccines from entering the country.   

“We must not import (Covid-19) vaccines from the US, the UK or even France. I do not trust them,” Khamenei said in a speech to the nation televised on state media. 

This comes as Iranian officials complain about US President Donald Trump's "maximum pressure" sanctions hampering their Covid-19 fight.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Javad Zarif has previously accused the US of preventing Iran from making a payment to COVAX, an initiative led by the World Health Organization (WHO), which aims to provide worldwide access to effective Covid-19 vaccines.

“The United States even prevents us from using our own money in different countries to pay COVAX for the vaccine,” Zarif said, adding, “we’ve been trying, our Ministry of Health has been trying, our Central Bank has been trying to transfer money we have in billions in other countries to WHO for COVAX and we haven’t had much success.”  

Last month, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said his government plans to produce its own Covid-19 vaccine “with the help of Iranian scientists”, and to buy vaccines from abroad, according to state news agency IRNA.

6:05 a.m. ET, January 8, 2021

Delhi announces mandatory quarantine for all UK arrivals

From CNN's Swati Gupta in New Delhi

The Delhi government announced a mandatory seven-day quarantine at an isolation facility for passengers arriving from the United Kingdom, even if they test negative for Covid-19 at the airport.

Passengers will then be required to spend a further seven days at a "home quarantine," a press release issued by the city’s Disaster Management Authority said Friday.

Those who test positive will be isolated in a separate facility.  

The Indian Ministry of Civil Aviation announced earlier this month that it was ending its temporary suspension of all flights to and from the UK on January 8.

“To protect Delhiites from exposure to virus from the UK... All those arriving from UK, who test positive will be isolated in an isolation facility. Negative ones will be taken to a quarantine facility for 7 days followed by 7 days home quarantine,” tweeted Arvind Kejriwal, Delhi chief minister.

This comes as India is about to embark on one of the most ambitious mass vaccination programs ever undertaken.

5:13 a.m. ET, January 8, 2021

Los Angeles County Covid-19 deaths in a day equals city's homicide deaths in a year, mayor says

From CNN's Sarah Moon and Christina Maxouris

The number of people dying of Covid-19 in Los Angeles County in a day is now equivalent to the number of homicide deaths the city saw in an entire year, Mayor Eric Garcetti said in a Thursday news conference.

Yesterday we had 259 deaths, that's one more than all the homicides in 2019 in L.A. city combined," he said. "In a single day, equal to a year of homicides."

The city of Los Angeles has a population of nearly 4 million people, while the county's population is about 10 million.

We are not, nor will we ever, become accustomed to these numbers as normal. Nor will I ever accept them as something we should just live with," the mayor added. "Because every single one of those means everything to somebody out there today."

"All of us need to continue to do more," he said.

The region has for weeks battled a brutal surge of Covid-19 infections and hospitalizations that have translated into climbing numbers of deaths. Los Angeles County officials now say one person dies of Covid-19 every eight minutes.

"People who were otherwise leading healthy, productive lives are now passing away because of a chance encounter with the Covid-19 virus," health officials said earlier this week. "This only ends when we each make the right decisions to protect each other."

More than 8,000 people are hospitalized with the virus across Los Angeles County, 20% of whom are in intensive care units.

Read the full story here:

4:21 a.m. ET, January 8, 2021

Here's what it's like in Tokyo under the state of emergency

From CNN's Selina Wang in Tokyo

The greater Tokyo region has been among the worst hit areas of Japan during the pandemic, surpassing 2,000 daily cases on Thursday for the first time with a record 2,447 new infections, according to updated figures from the Tokyo metropolitan government.

The total number of cases confirmed in the capital now stands at nearly 69,000.

The central government declared on Thursday that Tokyo and three neighboring prefectures -- Saitama, Chiba and Kanagawa -- would go into a state of emergency from Friday.

It's Japan's second state of emergency since the pandemic began.

CNN's Selina Wang has more:

4:01 a.m. ET, January 8, 2021

Chinese commuters asked to provide Beijing residency proof and negative Covid-19 test

From CNN's Beijing bureau

Commuters traveling between China's capital city and the neighboring northern Hebei province must provide evidence they are Beijing residents and a negative Covid-19 test, according to local officials working to contain the country's worst coronavirus flare-up in months.

China has locked down Hebei's provincial capital, Shijiazhuang, in an effort to contain the spread of the virus following the emergence of a cluster that has so far produced more than 300 cases.

"Those who commute regularly between Hebei and Beijing need to present proof that they are living in Beijing or that they are living in the four cities and 15 counties outside Beijing," An Zhongqi, executive deputy director of Hebei Provincial Public Security Department, said at a news conference Friday.
"Apart from the residential proof, they also need to present proof of a job in Beijing and a negative Covid test result from within 72 hours."

An also said that unless necessary, Shijiazhuang and Xingtai residents should not leave their cities and people in other parts of Hebei should not travel to Beijing.

3:37 a.m. ET, January 8, 2021

Australia to require international arrivals to present negative Covid-19 test results

From CNN's Angus Watson and Sophie Jeong

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison speaks to the media during a news conference at Parliament House in Canberra, Australia, on January 8.
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison speaks to the media during a news conference at Parliament House in Canberra, Australia, on January 8. Kukas Coch/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

Australia will require all travelers to the country to test negative for Covid-19 before their departure to Australia, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Friday.

Morrison also announced that Australia will be reducing the caps on international arrivals in New South Wales, Western Australia and in Queensland by 50% until February 15. This means that roughly 2,500 fewer Australian citizens and permanent residents can enter the country each week. Visitors from New Zealand have been allowed quarantine-free travel to certain Australian destinations.

Morrison said the government decided to implement these measures to "reduce and de-bulk the risk in terms of exposure" to the new Covid-19 variant.

Earlier, the state of Queensland announced that Greater Brisbane will enter a three-day lockdown after a cleaner from a quarantine hotel tested positive for the UK Covid-19 variant.  

3:28 a.m. ET, January 8, 2021

The NBA's Philadelphia 76ers will stay in New York City after a player tested positive for Covid-19

From CNN's Jill Martin

The Brooklyn Nets and the Philadelphia 76ers stand for the national anthem before the first half at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, on January 7.
The Brooklyn Nets and the Philadelphia 76ers stand for the national anthem before the first half at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, on January 7. Sarah Stier/Getty Images

The Philadelphia 76ers will remain in New York City after one of its players tested positive for the coronavirus, a team source told CNN. The source said the team will follow league protocols for Covid-19.

The team was in New York Thursday night after playing the Brooklyn Nets. The Sixers found out about the positive test result during the game, according to The Athletic and Stadium's Shams Charania, who first reported the positive test.

The 76ers are scheduled to play the Denver Nuggets in Philadelphia on Saturday. Before the game, the team said it would not practice on Friday.

3:00 a.m. ET, January 8, 2021

Germany reports highest single-day coronavirus death toll  

From CNN's Sugam Pokharel

A medical worker takes a nose swab sample from a young woman for a Covid-19 test in Berlin, on January 7.
A medical worker takes a nose swab sample from a young woman for a Covid-19 test in Berlin, on January 7. Sean Gallup/Getty Images

Germany's Covid-19 death toll increased by 1,188 in the past 24 hours -- a new single-day record -- according to the country's disease control agency, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI).

The previous record was 1,129 fatalities reported on December 30.

The RKI said Friday morning that 31,849 new coronavirus cases have been reported in the country in the previous 24 hours, bringing the national total to 1,866,887. At least 38,795 people have died due to Covid-19 in Germany so far.    

Lockdown measures: Earlier this week, Germany's government announced it will extend the country's national lockdown until the end of the month and will further tighten restrictions on movement and contact in order to curb the spread of coronavirus.

Under the new measures, all non-essential stores, restaurants, schools and nurseries will be required to remain shut until January 31. Citizens will only be permitted to meet with one other person outside of their own household.

2:12 a.m. ET, January 8, 2021

Pfizer's Covid-19 vaccine appears to work against mutation in new variants, study finds

From CNN Health's Michael Nedelman

A nurse prepares the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine at the Thackray Museum of Medicine in Leeds, England, on December 22, 2020.
A nurse prepares the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine at the Thackray Museum of Medicine in Leeds, England, on December 22, 2020. Danny Lawson/PA Images/Getty Images

A new study provides early evidence that a Covid-19 vaccine might be effective against two new coronavirus variants first identified in South Africa and the United Kingdom, despite a concerning mutation.

The two viruses share a mutation known as N501Y that scientists worry could allow the virus to evade the immune protection generated by a vaccine.

The researchers made a version of the virus in the lab that carries the mutation. They tested it against blood taken from 20 people who had received two doses of the Pfizer vaccine as part of a clinical trial. In research posted online Thursday, they said they found “no reduction in neutralization activity” against the mutated virus.

The N501Y mutation appears to help the virus attach to human cells, which may partly explain why these new strains appear to be more transmissible. But it is just one of many mutations in both strains that scientists have worried could make the virus less susceptible to vaccines or treatments. 

The study -- conducted by researchers at Pfizer and the University of Texas Medical Branch -- does not test the full array of these mutations. It also has not been peer-reviewed.

In a statement last month, Pfizer said it had performed similar tests on “multiple mutant strains. To date, we have found consistent coverage of all the strains tested.”

It will be important to continue “monitoring of the significance of changes for vaccine coverage,” the researchers wrote.
That’s because of “the possibility that a future mutation … might necessitate a vaccine strain change.” Both Pfizer’s and Moderna’s vaccines use genetic technology that would allow the vaccines to be quickly adapted to account for mutations, they noted.