February 1 coronavirus news

Moderna President Dr. Stephen Hoge said the company is focused on the vaccine dosing data it has – and that data says two doses is what works. 

He made the comments a day after Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, told NBC’s Meet The Press that as many people as possible over the age of 65 should be given the first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine. Osterholm said this to respond to a possible surge in the next six to 14 weeks caused by the coronavirus variant first identified in the United Kingdom. Such a strategy could delay second shots of the vaccine.

When asked for his thoughts on this strategy, Hoge told Good Morning America:

Hoge said it’s possible that one dose would provide some benefit, “but we really just don’t have any data to prove that at this point.” 

“As Moderna, we try to stick to the data and the science, what we have,” he continued, adding that public health officials have complicated choices to make about how to protect as many people as possible when there are limited vaccine supplies.

“Our responsibility as a company is to stick to the data and make as many doses as we can available,” Hoge said.  

Starting Thursday, people can get a Covid-19 rapid antigen test in one of Vienna’s major tourist spots: Schönbrunn Palace, the former imperial summer residence. 

There will be two new testing locations at the Unesco world heritage site, according to the office of Peter Hacker, the Vienna city councillor for social affairs, health and sport. 

One site – a walk-in test center – will be situated in the orangery of the palace, which is one of the two largest Baroque orangeries in the world, according to the palace’s website. The other, a drive-in test location, will be in the bus parking area of the palace.

Both test locations will be open Monday to Sunday, 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. local time, and registering online beforehand is required, Hacker’s office said. For those who receive a positive antigen test, there is the option of taking a gargle PCR test immediately afterwards, according to the statement.  

Millions visit Schönbrunn Palace each year, according to the palace’s website. Currently, the attractions is closed due to Austria’s Covid-19 measures.

Schönbrunn Palace is the former summer residence of the Habsburg rulers. The palace park – which houses statues, monuments and fountains – is one of the most popular recreation areas in Vienna, according to the palace’s website.

Johnson & Johnson would have fewer than 10 million vaccine doses available if the US Food and Drug Administration authorizes it for emergency use in the coming weeks, a federal health official tells CNN.

The official said the number of doses available would be in the single-digit millions, but that number would ramp up to 20 or 30 million doses by April.

Johnson & Johnson’s single-shot Covid-19 vaccine was shown to be 66% effective in preventing moderate and severe disease in a global phase 3 trial, but 85% effective against severe disease, the company announced Friday. The vaccine was 72% effective against moderate and severe disease in the US. 

CNN has reached out to Johnson & Johnson for comment.

Students in the United Kingdom could earn about US$ 55,000 less over their lifetime due to the lost schooling during the pandemic, according to new research from the UK Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS).

Speaking on the BBC's Radio 4 Today program on Monday, IFS Research Fellow Luke Sibieta said:

The IFS report also found that:

China has said it is cracking down on a crime ring making "fake vaccines" for Covid-19 that has been running since September, state media report.

Police departments in Jiangsu, Beijing and Shandong have arrested more than 80 people involved in producing more than 3,000 fake Covid-19 vaccine doses, Xinhua News Agency reported.

Xinhua said China's Ministry of Public Security is investigating crimes related to manufacturing and selling of counterfeit vaccines "and the illegal practice of medicine and fraud under the guise of the vaccines."

China has been vaccinating its population with shots from two companies, Sinovac and Sinopharm, and both have also been rolled out in other countries, including Turkey.

Both companies initially said their vaccines were more than 78% effective, but late-stage trials of the Sinovac candidate in Brazil reported an efficacy rate of 50.38%.

Sinovac has stood by its vaccine, even as some countries have placed it under review and paused rollouts, but scientists have called on the company to release more data.

Sinopharm, the state-owned company whose vaccine was the first to be approved in China, said its product was 79.34% effective in trials.

Israel will remain under lockdown until Friday at the earliest after the Cabinet voted to extend restrictions for five more days.

Speaking at the start of Sunday’s Cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told senior government colleagues that the British and South African mutations of the virus were “stretching the health care system to the maximum.”

“We are in a very tight race against the spread of the mutations to vaccinate as many citizens of Israel as possible. I hope that as long as there are no additional surprises, we will be able to gradually open the education system and our economy,’ Netanyahu said.

The announcement came on the same day as two huge funerals were held by members of Jerusalem’s ultra-Orthodox communities in open defiance of rules around public gatherings.

Thousands of ultra-Orthodox men took part in the funerals, several hours apart, for two luminaries of the Haredi rabbinate. Videos of the funerals drew a furious response from many in Israel.

The latest numbers from Israel’s Health Ministry show more than 5,000 new cases of Covid-19 on Sunday and a positivity rate on tests of 9.7%. The total number of fatalities from the virus now stands at 4,808, with almost one third of that number having come since the start of the year.

The Cabinet is to meet again Wednesday to decide whether to extend the lockdown beyond Friday.

Meanwhile, a general ban on entry to and exit from Israel was extended until Sunday.

Iran reported 6,597 new daily coronavirus cases on Monday, bringing the country's total number of cases to 1,424,596.

The new numbers were announced by Iran’s Health Ministry spokeswoman Sima Sadaat Lari in a news conference on state TV .

The country reported 79 new deaths from Covid-19, bringing the country's death toll to 58,038.

The health ministry said 3,896 patients are currently hospitalized in intensive care units.

Iran is the Middle East country hardest hit by the pandemic in terms of both total cases and deaths, though both have fallen from record highs at the end of 2020. The country is keeping restrictions in place to bring the case tally under control.

As governments across Europe try to suppress the deadly second wave of Covid-19 with strict lockdown measures, protests against the restrictions flared up in Brussels, Vienna and Budapest over the weekend.

In Belgium on Sunday, 488 demonstrators were arrested in Brussels in an unauthorized anti-lockdown protest, a spokesperson for Mayor Philippe Close told CNN.

“Protests of 100 people are allowed under strict coronavirus restrictions, but when far more people arrived they were asked to leave by police and some (were) arrested because they didn’t comply with police orders," said Close's spokesperson Wafaa Hammich.

TV footage showed protestors clashing with riot police and holding signs that said, "Free Belgium."

Some of those arrested were found to be carrying dangerous items such as knives, firecrackers, and a catapult, the Brussels Police department said on Twitter.

In Hungary, people marched in Budapest on Sunday to protest the closure of restaurants and cafes, which are limited to takeout service because of the pandemic.

Anatoli Belov, the owner of Husikam restaurant in the Hungarian capital, told CNN the government has been promising restaurants funds for many months but the industry has not received any. “It’s been very difficult but we are going to pull our socks up,” he said.

The Budapest Metropolitan Police said in a statement posted to their website that demonstrations are not allowed because of the pandemic. Police fined six people during Sunday's demonstration for not wearing a mask but made no arrests.

Restaurateur Peter Regős -- who owns the Regős Vendéglő restaurant in Budapest -- didn't attend Sunday's demonstration, but said that he was in a tough situation. When asked by CNN about whether he had been given any government assistance, he lamented that, “there is nothing for little people.” Regős said his restaurant had been closed for three months, and he had lost Forint 500,0000 (bpproximately S$ ,7000) f his savings duince

And in Austria, Reuters reported that thousands of anti-lockdown protesters gathered in central Vienna on Sunday but were prevented from marching by riot police. Austria is currently in its third national lockdown, with non-essential businesses closed.

An accommodation facility for refugees in Cologne, Germany has been hit by a coronavirus outbreak, according to Cologne officials.

41 residents have tested positive for Covid-19, with 31 of them testing positive for the variants first identified in South Africa or Brazil, according to a statement from the city's press office.

In addition, 16 members of staff have tested positive for the virus, with 11 of them testing positive for the South Africa variant, labeled B.1.351 by researchers. 

The other five staff members are awaiting the results of the variant analysis, the statement said.

All of the residents living in the center have been under quarantine since January 26, which has been under surveillance since Sunday, it said.

Entry into the accommodation center is not currently allowed.

The first two coronavirus cases were detected in the accommodation -- home to approximately 600 refugees -- about 10 days ago, with the first case of the variant identified last week.

The head of Cologne's health department Harald Rau said that the news of the outbreak is a "clear alarm sign for all of us" and urged residents of Cologne to avoid contact "even more consistently than before" and to keep practicing social distancing and good hygiene measures.